The Princess and the Prodigy
by bittersweet bliss
Summary: The Hidden Village of Blossoms called- they want their princess back. (ORIGINALLY: Playing With Fractions; THIS STORY IS RECEIVING A REVAMP! I'm completely changing the plot from where I left off all those years ago.)
1. Chapter 1

a/n: Welllll.... Here I am. Starting a new fanfic, when I haven't even finished my other one (I'M SORRY, I'M SORRY, PLEASE DON'T SHOOT ME!). This chapter is so much longer than what I normally write, I'm really surprised, and scared! I really want to finish a fanfic, for once! You prolly think Ima lazy slob! Ahahaha, I'm sorry! Well, I don't know how long this will be, I always plan it out and then it never turns out the way I plan for it to. I'm not good with chapter titles either, or titles in general, my apologies!

Well, I present to you, a KakaSaku fanfic with an overused plot. At least my plot twists are original... I think? Not really, I bet. But it's a good dose of KakaSaku! Winkwink.

**Everything is Alright**

_But I'm getting better at fighting the future,  
"Someday you'll be fine.."  
Yes, I'll be just fine. _

It was inhumanely hot. She could feel herself tan, feel herself sizzling like bacon. Surprisingly, her tears left cool streaks down her cheeks instead of evaporating as soon as they rolled out of her angry green eyes.

Had she done something wrong? Had she said something too honest? Was it her personality? Was it her _forehead_? Was it too big? Too wide? Too flat? Too round? Too shiny? The mere thought brought around a migraine and a side-dose of memories. She let her eyes fall, welcoming the dreary onslaught of images. Flashes of blonde hair and blue eyes flickered through her mind, and she heaved a sigh, snapping her eyes open.

She lapped determinedly at her ice cream, staring at the sky and blocking her eyes with a lazy arm drawn over her vision as she laid on a bench.

"The Hokage wants to see you, Ugly."

Sakura shot out of her laid-back position. The scoop of cherry ice cream jumped, meeting her chin before falling onto her lap. She swiped at her eyes, gripping the cone gingerly, a bitter expression clouding her face. When she looked up, her forehead banged into Sai's (_It really is too big_, she thought miserably.). An angry red mark imprinted itself onto her, burning bright and bitter. She winced, pressing it gently with her finger.

"I was just _in_ her office!" She groaned, throwing her back against the white, wooden bench, forcing a whimper down. What did she want now? The smudge of pink ice cream on her lap melted, leaving it damp and sticky. She batted at her skirt.

"Well, perhaps she wants to greet you again." He smiled at her in his slow way, his mouth pulling up at the corners simultaneously, as if they were drawn by strings. His eyes closed, but he showed no teeth. The smell of ink assaulted Sakura.

She shot him a nasty glare but got up and tossed her cone, grumbling about her skirt.

She stepped moodily through the village, passing shoppers and shopkeepers. She waved passively to anybody who greeted her. The din of the street crowd didn't reach her ears, all she could hear was the pounding in her head and the blood rushing through her veins. She had _just_ been in Tsunade's office; she had finished sorting all the scrolls and missions, finished mailing off the mission pay, read through all her medic books, practiced all her medic jutsus– the question wasn't what she had done, it was what had she _not_ done?

To top that off, she'd just been dumped. 2 times in one month. She'd set a record by now, hadn't she? She paused by a beauty shop, glaring into a mirror. Her face was magnified, and she tugged roughyl at her bangs. She needed to cut them. She needed a change. Or maybe that wouldn't help, she thought, turning onto her path sharply, maybe she was just ugly.

Her green eyes glittered unhappily with yet to be shed tears. She slammed her fist into a fence, breaking the boards in half, sending splinters flying.

"You seem angry," Someone commented. Sakura stopped mid-step, her hand going to her thigh instinctively. Her eyes traced the horizon, the treetops, everywhere until she spotted a dash of bright silver. His eye was creased, signifying a smile. "Yo!"

She opened her mouth to reply before realizing that she hadn't seen Kakashi since she'd begun training with her shishou, except for the occasional times when he had been summoned to speak to the Hokage, and that was always brief, no greetings or salutations exchanged. Her eyes swept over him, giving him a once-over. He hadn't changed at all, not in the slightest. She didn't know whether to be amazed or glad that at least _one_ thing she'd known hadn't changed. He was still wearing his jounin vest, with all it's pouches; she was even glad to see his trademark orange book seemingly super-glued onto his hand.

"It's rude to stare, Sakura," Kakashi said flippantly, still smiling.

"Sorry, I just– I haven't seen you in a while," She flushed, feeling her words jumble in her mouth. Did he think she'd changed? Maybe he was thinking about how big her forehead had gotten. Mentally, she kicked herself. "So what're you up to?"

"Hokage." he replied, pulling his book up in front of his face, resuming his reading. Sakura nodded, folding her hands behind her back and looking to the sky.

"Me too. What'd she want?"

"I don't know, I was suppose to go over an hour ago," He replied stoically, flipping a page. Sakura raised her eyebrows, a dry laugh bubbling in her throat. _Old habits die hard._

"How long has it been since I saw you? 2 years? 3? And you _still _haven't broken that habit? Don't you think that's a bit out of hand?" She smirked good-naturedly, folding her arms over each other.

"Hm," he replied, engrossed in his erotica. Sakura was stricken by how much he had just sounded like Sasuke. She looked away, content with staring at the sky, memories flooding her head.

Noticing the silence, Kakashi looked up. Sakura seemed lost in her thoughts, a plain expression on her face. _Wonder what she's thinking_, he mused, flipping a page to make it seem like he was reading the book instead of her.

"I'm thinking of cutting my hair," She said suddenly, pulling her bubblegum pink bangs around to emphasize her point. Kakashi blinked, surprised at her random statement. "Maybe dye it, too," she smiled, twisting a strand around her finger, staring at it deviously. "Maybe green," Kakashi blanched, and she smirked. "Or maybe just brown. How do you think silver would look on me?"

"It'd look good on you– if you were slightly taller. Maybe if you were a guy, and maybe if you were incredibly ripped. Maybe if you had a mask over your mouth. Maybe if you had one eye covered... definitely if you had one eye covered." _Flip._

"You think so? Then I'll do it." She laughed openly. There was a short silence. "How do you do that?" Sakura asked, locking her fingers behind her head, a habit she'd picked up from Naruto. "I use to always wonder when we were small, how you'd concentrate on us and read at the same time."

"Easy. I didn't concentrate on you guys."

"Now why didn't I think of that," Sakura replied, her voice anything but sweet and a sour smile plastered across her face. Kakashi's eye creased; Sakura sighed, shaking her head slowly. He wondered when she'd started sighing so much, but when he glanced at her, her face was unreadable. She'd make a good under cover-nin.

---

"_Marry_ him."

"Not legally, Sakura."

"_Marry _him?"

"Just for this mission."

"Marry _him_."

"Sakura, he isn't bad-looking."

"Marry _him?"_

"He's not as old as you think he is."

"_Marry him?_"

"Sakura!" Her teacher hollered, slamming her fist onto her desk, vein popping. "It's only some time in the Snow Country. It'll be over before you know it, before you give it a second thought." Her face was an unnatural shade of strawberry-red, and the scowl on her face aged her features. "You're the most suitable nin for the job; you excel in medicine and Kakashi excels in everything but that. You're the best pair, skills and looks," Sakura scoffed loudly, an angry retort sitting on the tip of her tongue.

"_And looks?_" She snapped in an unbelieving tone. "I just got dumped. My face just became best friends with my _ice cream_. I've gained 5 pounds in the last 2 weeks. Face it, I'm _ugly_.And now I have to _marry_ Hatake Kakashi, porn-reader extraordinaire?"

"For 3 months."

"_For 3 months!_" She yelled, throwing up her hands in defeat.

"It's not porn," Kakashi chirped from behind his book. Sakura cried out angrily, her screams shaking the tower. The door slammed shut, and her yell echoed off the mountain.

"I _hate_ men!"

---

Years ago, her shishou had said, "it doesn't matter how _pretty_ you are, as long as you can knock 'em out with a hit," although the point had been lost because she'd resumed teaching Sakura her secret, self-perfected jutsu on anti-aging to maintain youthful beauty. The pinkette had spent a good year or two practicing it every day, watching the crows feet around the corners of her eyes smooth out back to an even, slippery surface, stretching tight like it had the days when she'd train with Team 7.

She smoothed a hand up her calf, remembering the lesson she'd had on healing minor scrapes and cuts and bruises. It'd been her first time using a razor– as soon as she had slid the edge up her leg, she'd nicked herself, shrieked, and fled to her shishou's office, blood dripping down her skin in a torrent of bright, blistering scarlet. The Hokage's eyes had brightened for a split-second, signalling an idea (Most likely evil.) before calming back to her nutmeg brown, to which she had promptly and stoicly stated, "I'll teach you how to heal it,"

"Oh my gosh, thank you so much, Shishou, I was so scared I was going to-"

"But you're gonna have to heal it yourself."

To which the blood in her face had abruptly rushed down, most likely to her leg. She spent the next hour forcing her chakra to mold in her hands until it glowed green and visible, and then spent longer hours maintaining an equal amount in both her hands and in the area she had to recover. By the time she was finished, her whole body was an unsightly shade of off-white, her skin was clammy and cold, and she was surprised to still be alive, breathing, with her heart beating.

Sakura sighed, tossing a razor into her knapsack. What had she done to deserve such a treacherous turn of events? Maybe it was that time when she'd slammed the window on Sai's fingers. Then again, he _had_ been trying to steal her brownies, and then he had called her a fatass with absolutely no hesitation. Nope, as far as she was concerned, she was completely in the right.

If she kept sighing like this, she'd faint from dizziness.

"Whatever," she growled, drawing the strings of her bag, slinging it over her bedroom door, and whipping her covers into the air to settle under them. They landed around her neatly, cocooning her tightly as she squeezed her eyes and blocked out her imagination's growing depictions of just how cold the Snow Country could be.

---

She was dreaming. Dreaming about blizzards and snowflakes and snowmen and blankets of soft but cold snow, and loud, uneven footsteps traipsing across the quiet carpet of white–

Footsteps? She grumbled, curling further into her covers, awake but not yet _awake_. All she wanted to do was roll around in her full sized bed until she'd stretched out all the kinks and knots in her bones, until opening her eyes felt like something she wanted to do and could do, not something she didn't want to do but had to do. She flipped onto her back, struggling to pull her covers up to her chin without moving her arms. There was a sudden drastic change in temperature, she almost cried out. A chilly breeze wrapped around her, and she blinked dazedly.

"Time to go," Someone singsonged monotonously, the voice being oddly male. Last time she'd checked, she didn't have a roommate. One person could barely fit, how would two people? This reminded her strikingly of when Ino had roomed for a month. A majority (Who was she kidding? All of them were from Ino! She didn't drink coffee.) of the coffee spills on the rug were from that time– spills that she'd never been able to wash out. But her blonde, busty best friend had moved out ages ago, which meant-

"Kakashi, why are you in my room?" She yelled in a hoarse, sleep-doused voice. She flung herself out of her bed like the ninja she was and sped to the bathroom, twisting the shower knob and locking the door with a noisy click. Kakashi sighed, pulled out his book, and squatted against the ledge outside her door.

He'd just gotten to a good part when an eerie sound interrupted his concentrated reading. Through the insistent pounding of the shower, he heard... _singing?_ Actually, it wasn't bad; her voice cracked, and there was a long pause and some fumbling. She picked the tune back up, getting louder, than softer, then louder, then segueing into another popular lyric. The rhythm of pelting water droplets ended suddenly, and her voice was clear.

He'd had a girlfriend once, years ago. Maybe even a decade or two. How old had he been?... 14. He must have been 14. He remembered being quite the pimp. Had he really just thought that? God, he was either getting old or getting senile.

Or maybe he was getting old and senile. He shook his head, her voice tripping again.

Said girlfriend had been _quite_ the singer– and not in the good sense. Her voice not only cracked at regular intervals, she was never on key. Not saying that Sakura's singing reminded him of that, because Sakura was pretty good, even if her voice did crack. Maybe it was puberty. Was Sakura too old to be going through puberty anymore?... How old was Sakura anyways?

"You haven't turned that page for 10 minutes, Kakashi-sensei," Sakura deadpanned, raising an eyebrow. Her lip rose though, amusement written across them. Her hair was still damp, although he had heard her blow-drying it. She'd dressed in her normal outfit, and her bag bulged like Naruto's stomach after a visit to Ichiraku.

"How old are you now, Sakura?" She watched as his eyes flickered dubiously across her face, pausing at every feature. Was he cross-examining her? Looking for wrinkles? She snickered in her head. _No wrinkles, chyeah!_ She'd have to thank Tsunade for that– oh wait, she was mad at her shishou. Mad at her for making her life miserable, for making her go to the coldest country in existence; mad at her for pairing her up with _Kakashi_, someone whom she hadn't talked to for longer than 2 years.

"19."

Something about her had _changed_. Was it the glitter in her eyes? No. She'd always been like that. She'd definitely filled out more. She hadn't dyed her hair, hadn't changed her named. What _was_ it? "You've... changed." He stated firmly, narrowing his eyes.

"Well, I cut my hair yesterday."

"Oh." Her tentative, eyebrow-wrinkled gaze made him question his sanity and supposedly acute observation skills as a ninja. He was most likely growing old and senile. However, he did finally notice that her bangs no longer framed either side of her face. Instead, they were swept to one side, a small insignificant change that made her forehead look significantly smaller. The wonders of this era! He returned to his book.

"Let's get going," Sakura suggested, leaping off the metal railing of her 4th story apartment room. Kakashi followed suit.

---

It was quiet. Too quiet. And not in a 'somebody-will-suddenly-pop-out-and-attack-us-if-think-it's-this-quiet' kind of quiet– no, it was a 'this-is-really-freaking-boring' quiet.

Honestly, she'd had enough of silence. She'd been living alone for the past two years, her parents having died in a recent attack on the village. She never thought she'd miss Naruto's loudmouth outbursts, but she'd find herself aching everyday, when the eggshell white walls of her apartment were bathed in a healthy orange glow. Aching for somebody to break the quiet. Somebody to talk to, somebody to listen to her. Life was just... boring. Everybody was busy; nobody had time, but she'd still managed to live through each day.

Unfortunately, Sakura knew based on experience that Kakashi was a naturally taciturn person, but _really_? He hadn't looked away from his anti-drug for an hour. She was about to go mad. Was she really supposed to be married to this guy? Now that she thought about it... why was Tsunade-shishou always sending her off on these kind of under-cover missions? Neji, Lee, Kiba, even Shino. She'd been 'married' to all of them at one point or another. Couldn't she get a break?

And from her point of view, being married wasn't even necessary for this mission. They were going to Snow country to meet a princess. A beautiful princess, actually, who liked to seduce men. A beautiful princess with ebony black hair and bright blue eyes, much like Naruto's, she'd imagined– imagined being the keyword. She, in fact, had no real idea what the princess looked like, all she knew was that she was absolutely gorgeous. The descriptions she'd heard were enough to make her gag.

She was jealous. Duh.

Not that she'd ever admit it. Her glance sidled to Kakashi. Tsunade was right, he _wasn't_ ugly. In fact, he was... pretty? No. Handsome. She blushed at the thought; she'd never actually say that to anybody out loud. He could've single-handedly finished this mission; she was just a broken wheel on a wagon, something to slow it down. She sighed. Kakashi's gaze snapped up and met her's.

"Something wrong?" The first words he had uttered! Sakura almost fainted.

"Nope, just thinking," she replied after hesitating. Sure, she wanted to talk, but she didn't want to force him to do anything... He was staring at her pointedly, and she shifted uncomfortable, almost slipping off the next branch because of the subtle move. He slid his book into his pocket.

"So. How's life?" Sakura's eyes widened, then she smiled before launching into the story of her life, or at least her life for the past two years.

Something in her eyes made him listen.

---

"And then Tsunade saved me," She said on an exhale. "Apparently there _is_ a jutsu for coffee stains," Laughing, she bounced off the branch, but her foot didn't quite hit the branch, and she slid forward. Her breathe caught, and she waited for the imminent _bang_ that would sound when the dusty ground said how-do-you-do to her pretty little face. But 10 seconds after she had squeezed her eyes shut, hoping by some twisted logic that by closing her eyes she wouldn't smash her nose in, she realized that she hadn't hit her head yet, and there was no possible way that the drop was that great. Blinking her bleary eyes, she looked up. Kakashi looked down at her, his hands wrapped around her bicep. Their eyes met, Sakura's sheepish and Kakashi's an amused cross between surprised and somewhat worried. "Guess I got caught up in my story-telling," Laughing nervously, she sat onto the branch, brushing herself off. There was a crack, and she gasped as she watched a kunai slip by her face, just a hair away. A telltale sting ambushed the bridge of her nose, and she landed neatly by the tree, her own kunai in her hand, a cut on her nose. She pressed on it with her chakra-induced finger, feeling the skin stitch back together.

Kakashi was pressed against her, back to back, holding a kunai. They circled cautiously, wary. There was a snap and a streak of orange and blonde. Sakura's heart jumped. Kakashi felt her hesitation; he knew what she was thinking. They circled for a few more minutes before deeming it safe to put away their weapons. Sakura leapt to the branch, pulling the kunai out. A purple ink dripped from the tip.

"Poison," She inhaled weakly, "From Snow." Her eyebrows furrowed. Pulling off the note on the end of the ring, she pocketed the tool for later examination. She stretched upwards, reaching for the sky. Her back cracked, and she yawned. "We've been out for _hours_. Let's find a place to stay!"

---

"You need to talk more," Sakura grumbled, poking her sensei in the shoulder. "Kakashi-sensei?" Silence. "Maybe I'll talk to myself." Still no reply. "The other day, I was trying to make sushi. Neji said I almost killed him." She shot him a sideway glance. "Can you cook?"

"Hm."

"You're the ugliest guy I've ever met, Kakashi."

"Hm."

"You sure are a lazy-ass husband."

"Hm."

"I lost my virginity to Gai-sensei two nights ago,"

"WHAT." He dropped his book, stopping in his tracks. "You _what?!_" Sakura laughed, crying victoriously in her head. "I'm not stupid Sakura," Kakashi said dryly. "It's just the image of you peeling off his jumpsuit that makes me gag."

Her snorts stopped abruptly, her own face turning an unsightly shade of green. "D-don't say things like that, Sensei," Her whole body shuddered.

Nonchalantly, he added, "And I'm sure you've already lost yours."

Sakura's face flamed. Was she really breaching this topic with her _teacher_? Truthfully, she hadn't. Lost her purity, that is. Each guy had... finished before her, and she'd been left restless to slip into sleep.

Kakashi noted the multiple emotions that flickered through her face in that second. When she wasn't hiding her thoughts, she sure was easy to read. He almost laughed out loud, but settled for an eye-crease. "Or am I wrong?"

"Shut up!" She flustered, marching ahead, her face as pink as her hair. Kakashi sped to catch up, catching sight of a hotel. Sakura tried pointedly not to look at him, and he chuckled. Sakura glared daggers.

"You're making me blush," Kakashi said mock-coyly, hands in his pocket.

"Don't flatter yourself," Sakura mumbled, her pace quickening. Her 'husband' lengthened his stride. "And for your information, _Dear_, I've gotten close before." Her tone dripping with honey.

"Close? Explain _close_."

Sakura spluttered, completely shocked by his straight face. "I-I- well, that's- psh- You don't ask- I mean-" Kakashi grinned genuinely, hands behind his head, listening in amusement to her babbling.

"Thanks for the explanation."

"Kakashi-sensei," She groaned, splaying a palm over her face. "Isn't it kind of late for an explanation of sex? Weren't you supposed to go over this years ago with us? Asuma-sensei did it. Kurenai-sensei did it. What happened to you?" It was Kakashi's turn to break a sweat, what little of his face tinting pink. "I know Naruto was looking forward to it," Sakura smiled cheekily, nudging her teacher.

"I don't know what you're talking about," He said uncomfortably. Sakura smiled, walking ahead.

"Of course you don't, sensei." She entered the dingy motel, her voice trailing off.

She glanced around. The wallpaper was peeling at the corners and the paint was faded in some areas, but at least the beds were soft. She fell into the duvet, feeling herself sink into the cloud of goose-down. Her eyes seemed to droop automatically, but then Kakashi sat his ass onto his side of the bed, sending her bouncing. There was a pregnant pause.

"Why couldn't we get a room with two separate beds again?" Sakura groused.

"Cause we're married," Her teammate replied offhandedly, pulling off his hitae-ate, then starting on his vest. Sakura blushed, rolling onto her other side and teetering dangerously at the edge of her bed. It creaked and groaned with age. She stared intensely at a purple stain on the wall. When she turned back around, he was in his boxers, checking for something on his arm. He snapped his wrist back, and she watched the skin pull taught across his muscles. It was cut perfectly. He winced; she stared in awe.

Suddenly, the smell of blood attacked her senses. Blood bubbled from a cut on his forearm. It had reopened when he'd bent his wrist. Sakura scooted over, taking his arm and pressing her thumbs against the abrasion. Chakra glowed green in her digits, and they both stared in silence as the skin sewed itself together. The cut closed neatly, the only sign it had ever been there the faintest scar. She traced a finger down a vein, and his muscle jerked involuntarily.

The heat of his stare burned a hole into her, and when she met his gaze, it was so quiet she could hear the air stirring from her breaths. His eye spun lazily, whirling like a slow carousel. Her breath caught at their proximity.

When she thought about it, Kakashi was so like Sasuke without the bloodthirst. Good-looking, quiet, a sober past, and both geniuses. His eyes looked down at her, resting lazily on her own liquid pools.

"Sakura–"

She snapped out of her daze, forgetting what was happening. When it hit her, she dropped his arm, sprung up, fled to the bathroom, and splashed ice cold water against her face. The tips of her hair dripped, pinging against the sink. She stared into the mirror, noting her pale expression.

There was no way in _hell_ that she had just compared Kakashi-sensei to Sasuke.

She groaned, sliding down the opposite wall, face in her hands. _Please be joking_.

_Kakashi _has_ always been a hot thing,_ Inner-Sakura taunted, her tone almost naughty.

"No way!" Sakura wailed, her fist sailing into the door, only to be caught by another hand, warm and large.

"You alright?" He pushed her hand down, eyebrows raised.

Sakura replied in a high voice, "Yeah, perfectly fine,"

"You sure?" He repeated, leaning against the frame of the door. He crossed his legs, which were thankfully now covered with baggy black cargos. Unfortunately (_Fortunately, you mean_, Inner-Sakura cackled.), he was still shirtless. Sakura locked her face determinedly to Kakashi's.

"Never better!" She pushed past him, desperate for an escape. Kakashi grabbed her arm, pushing her up against the wall. His mouth, the only thing covered besides his pants, she noted, moved dangerously close to her ear.

"Feeling tense?" He murmured. Goosebumps danced across her arms. She stammered unintelligibly before Kakashi pulled back, smiling widely by the look of his eye and the way his mask quirked to one side. "I'm just kidding," and he dropped her. Sakura stared at him in awe before fumbling out of the bathroom and leaving her teacher to his shower.

When she was sure he had turned the water on and locked the door, she screamed into her pillow, cursing Tsunade for the millionth time that day.


	2. Chapter 2

a/n: Ima complete glutton for trouble, typing this during high school finals... Oh well!

Before I continue, I'll have you know I stopped watching Naruto after the 60 something-eth episode of Shippuden. Sorry for all you hardcor Naruto fans out there! I hope you don't feel like Ima let down! Anyhow, the point of this is to explain that when I was typing these chapters out, I couldn't be bothered to think of a true time-setting. I know so many things have happened, but if you may, please think of your own time-setting. What I had in mind was that as soon as Naruto came back, chaos ensued, and after having fixed it somewhat, he left. I know _clearly_ and _without a doubt_ that that did not happen, but this is fanfiction, and I shall do what I want! Thankfully for you, I will not butcher this already somewhat meddled story due to a screwy timeline.

Oh... and I forgot to mention– this has been moving so fast, I can't seem to slow it down. I'll try my best to, though, after a major turning point. And this chapter took me forever to find a fitting song. Bachachacha! (That's me laughing. HAHAHA!)

Sorry again! Thank you so much for reading, hope you enjoy!

**Sick Hearts**

_Call this a mask, call me strong,_

_Call this a mask, call me wrong;_

_Cause sick hearts do fine _

_with wasting their time._

_Pick up 2 words on the spot for the moment,_

_Acting like it's what you meant to say;_

_Calling to angels (Incomprehensible)–_

_And you don't believe they exist anyways._

_I'd rather shut my eyes. _

The look on her face had been priceless. She really _hadn't_ lost her virginity, had she? He chuckled, rubbing a towel against his face and drying his hair. The sheer panic in her eyes almost made him burst out into tears of laughter, not that it'd do any good for his rep.

He thought back to when she'd rambled on about her life as they leaped through the canopy of the forest. He'd remembered fighting off the onslaught of horrid memories when she'd murmured something quietly about her parents dying in the recent attack. He'd been battling in that mini-war. He remembered the kunais flying everywhere, left, right, up, and he also remembered being strapped to a stretcher and being prodded at before they finally left him alone; everything had began to fade except for a luminous pair of green eyes. Everything had fallen into darkness except for the pair of orbs peering down at him, worry tingeing the irises. He shook his head, flinging water droplets left and right. The ones that landed on the mirror slid down quickly on a suicide mission. He didn't want to think about that day.

Kakashi pulled on his pants and pushed the door open, the cool air wrapping around him and making his arms break into goosebumps. It was freezing, compared to the humidity in the shower; the mirror had fogged considerably. Sakura was curled on her side, snuggled deep into her covers. Her eyebrows were stitched together, as if she was dreaming about an intense medical emergency.

She'd said that her greatest fear was losing a life during one of those emergencies. It had yet to happen, she'd said, but she'd always have a gnawing feeling when she had to cut the festering wound open. He'd replied by saying that that was good; it gave her a motive to work her best.

"Maybe it is," she'd said quietly, "but you can't stop fate." The distant look in her eyes had him stopping short with his next remark, no words falling from his open mouth. She had no doubt been thinking about her parents.

He settled onto the edge of his side of the bed and Sakura bounced gently, rolling onto her back. He stared at her curiously, picking apart her train of thought. Personally, he thought that her fear was what pushed her to be her best; the effect being that she was the youngest and second best medic-nin in the country, maybe world, the first being the Hokage herself.

He was jolted out of his thoughts when Sakura groaned, her arm falling limply onto Kakashi's claimed half of the bed. Her eyebrow twitched, and smiled to himself under his mask.

"I remember a lot of people thought I was useless," She'd claimed absent-mindedly, staring ahead as if it meant nothing to her– which it probably didn't. Guilt washed onto him like a tide; he had thought that for the longest time. Then she had looked at him with a fire in her eyes, almost as if she knew he'd been a suspect and said plainly, "I'm pretty sure I can finally prove them wrong."

Rin had said the same thing a long time ago, before she'd taken on healing. He sighed, falling onto the bed. At the same time, Sakura snapped up, her eyes wide open, her irises... light blue.

"Shit, Kakashi, shit!" She hissed, rubbing her eyes. "What colour are my irises?"

"Light blue," Kakashi said shortly, pulling himself up again and out of the bed.

"Fuck, shit, damn," Her mouth ran like a motor. _Colourful_, Kakashi thought. _There's a lot more she's inherited from Tsunade than just her temper and technique._ "Water, I need water. I knew something was wrong when I pulled that kunai out," She spat onto her thumbs, rubbing her eyes with them. Her eyes turned turquoise, seemingly returning to their normal hue, but then she snapped loudly, "WELL, GET THE WATER, DAMN IT!" Kakashi grabbed a cup on his way to the bathroom, twisted the faucet, and expected another raging outburst about his speed. Instead, he heard Sakura fumbling and swearing like a sailor.

He stepped out, his eyes following Sakura's hands. They hesitated and moved around clumsily. "Need help?"

"I was waiting," She remarked dryly, still searching through her pouches. Kakashi kneeled between her thighs, pushing her hands away.

"What're you looking for?" He looked up at her before realizing– she couldn't see. Her irises paled by the second. A few minutes ago, they had been the same shade of lavender as Hinata's and Neji's; now they seemed to be fading right into the whites of her eyes. Kakashi stared, dumbfounded.

"A glass vial. It's got a cork stopper. Um, um, um– wait a second," she spat into her fingers again, rubbing them into her eyes. The colour cleared somewhat. "It's green. The stuff inside is green," she said hurriedly, squirming. "HURRY THE FUCK UP KAKASHI, UNLESS YOU WANT TO CARRY ME ON YOUR BACK FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE!"

Kakashi shoved his hands into either side of the pouch on her waist, pulling out vial after vial. How many damn antidotes did she have? He _knew_ he should've taken that crash course on medicine Iruka had handed him a flyer for, but he had _finally _been getting to the good part of _Icha Icha_. Finally, he pulled out a tiny vial of clear green liquid. It glittered in the light, the substance like particles of dust in the air. "Here," he muttered, thrusting the vial into her hand.

"Thank you," she said in exasperation, laying onto her back. "Drop 2 drops into each eye."

"Me?"

"No, the fur rug on the floor. Yes you, Kakashi!" She magically pulled out an eyedropper from a small pocket in her back, shoving it into his face (Of course, she didn't know that.). He grunted, swatting her hand away and taking it. He bent on all fours over her, eyedropper steady over her eye. He could see her irises disappearing.

"Um..." Sakura started, her voice quiet. "You're hair is tickling me." Kakashi jerked back. There was a tinge of pink across her nose. "Thanks. 2 in each eye." Kakashi nodded, then remembered she couldn't see. He squeezed the dropper, watching her first eye clear. He mused at her heterochromia before clearing out her second eye. "It'll take a few minutes before I can see," Sakura said calmly, blinking. The colour of spring faded back into her eye.

"I'm not wearing my mask right now," Kakashi said frankly, the corner of his mouth twitching in amusement.

"I hate you so much," Sakura exhaled, sighing and sitting up, only to smack her forehead against Kakashi. She yelped and Kakashi hissed, falling onto her.

"Your forehead is _hard_," he muttered, looking for something soft to press his own crown into.

"Kakashi."

"What do you do, forehead exercises?"

"_Kakashi_."

"Do you drink a lot of milk?"

"KAKASHI. STOP RUBBING YOUR FACE IN MY CHEST," She yelled, pushing him in a meek attempt to shove him off.

"Oh, my bad," he said lightly, forcing himself up with his arms. "I was just looking for something to lay my poor, bruised head in so it wouldn't experience further trauma."

"Cretin!" She snarled, her face tomato-red. Without a second glance, she placed all the vials back into their pouches, simultaneously slipping out the inky black kunai. She brought it up to eye level, a few centimeters away from her eyes. They flickered from one end to the other, pausing to examine the purple tip. The colour of her face calmed back to it's normal peachy tinge. She pressed a finger to the smooth side of the point, pulled it a few centimeters away, and began accumulating chakra in it, slowly drawing the poison out. She sniffed, and her eyes watered. "Light of the night. Snow's specialty poison. Starts in the eyes and blinds the victim, and then works it's way through the body. Kinda slow, but once it circles through your system, you're good as dead." Grey met green. "Somebody wants us dead."

"Everybody wants me dead," Kakashi tapped his scarred eye, both of them creasing into his signature 'smile.'

"Don't flatter yourself," Sakura grinned, standing up and popping open the now empty test tube. She cupped the chakra-enclosed poison and poured it into the vial. "I think this'll come in handy. Aren't you glad I woke up in time?" She stretched, and her joints sang in a chorus of cracks. She noticed out of the corner of her eye that Kakashi was staring at her with a somewhat admiring expression on his face. His next comment had her staring stupidly, throat dry.

"You'll definitely prove them wrong," He murmured before sliding into bed.

* * *

"I was thinking, Kakashi," She tossed a meat bun from hand to hand, juggling it to cool it down. The sun had just begun to rise, the dew still fresh on the grass. They'd stopped at a few markets to stock up and find breakfast– Kakashi hated Soldier pills; they were only supposed to be used for urgent matters anyways– before returning on their way to Snow. "Since you're so intent on learning about me–"

"I'm intent on learning about you?" Kakashi asked as though he didn't know what Sakura was hinting at. Said girl cleared her throat.

"Fine. Since I've been talking so much, maybe I should make up for my eloquence by listening to you?" After grinning charmingly, she took a bite out of the meat bun. The steam rose, a little cloud in the cool morning air. The smell of pork wafted towards Kakashi, wrapping around him. His stomach growled.

He pondered for a second, watching her sink her teeth into her breakfast. "What's there to know?"

She gave a bark of laughter, but it sounded more sweet than harsh. "You're Copy Ninja Kakashi–"

"I prefer Sharingan Kakashi, if you're gonna use one of my pet names." His eye creased, Sakura's rolled.

"You're _Sharingan Kakashi_. The question isn't 'what's to know,' it's 'what's not to know?'" Again, she smiled, and Kakashi stared as the corners of her mouth defied gravity. She was waving the bun around when the meat suddenly plopped out. "Oh, darn," She said blankly, her head snapping from the bun to the meat to the bun and back to the meat, like she was watching a tennis game. "What a waste." She bit into the bread. "So. Tell me about yourself." The Sharingan user ignored her blatantly, and Sakura dropped her happy-go-lucky facade, frustrated. "We're _married_, Kakashi. If you can't talk to me like a friend, at least take this time to practice so that we won't be complete idiots when we show up at the Princess's tower. You don't have to get detailed and I don't have to know everything, but I have to know something!" She ranted, brows knit. "At the rate this is going, it's going to take me the whole journey there _and_ back jut to find out what your favorite colour is–"

"Green."

"And we don't have time– what?"

Kakashi hesitated, surprised at his own answer. "Green?" He repeated, this time not so sure. Sakura blinked, and then her face brightened like a lightbulb.

"Really? I like green, too! Honestly though, I'd say my favorite colour is red, I remember this one time..." She rattled on, Kakashi content on listening. What had made him say green?

He was almost scared to find out.

* * *

Sakura had spent a good hour and a half recounting miserable tale after miserable tale of what one ex-boyfriend had done, and what another had done, and what the other had done before Kakashi stopped in his tracks. He stopped, stepping onto the ground quietly.

"He was my 17th boyfriend, you know? I was kinda losing hope by– Oomph!" She walked right into him, too caught up in her past drama to notice the faint smell of something bitter and acrid. Suddenly, Pakkun appeared.

"Yo." The pug lifted a paw, head swivelling from Sakura to Kakashi. He sniffed. "That smell–" Kakashi nodded, and Pakkun leaped forward, taking the lead. His snout brushed languidly against the dirt path; Sakura was mute.

30 minutes, maybe an hour, passed when Sakura cringed, clasping a hand over her nose. "Oh- oh my God, what-?" An acrid smell, slow and thick seemed to swim through the trunks of the trees. It was pungent, sharp like a spice, but horribly disgusting and almost swallowed her whole. It reminded her sorely of a blanket she owned as a child, which she had dragged everywhere. One night, she'd gotten tangled up in it, lost in her own prized possession, on the point of suffocating when a hero happened to chance by.

Suddenly, there was a distant sound, somewhat like a cough, and a cloud of black ash rose from the tops of the arbors. There was a rush of heat, warmth flying forth like the fire from a fireplace. Sakura held her breath, her green eyes swimming and watering profusely. Kakashi shot her a look of curiousity, his thin mask miraculously blocking the smell. Which actually made no sense, Sakura would later realize.

"Fire," Kakashi murmured, his tone serious and pointed. Slowly, his gaze veered back to the canopy. Sakura gulped, her throat dry. Was it really _that_ hot? Even Kakashi had broken into an uneven sweat. Pakkun pawed the earth, shaking his fur out.

"Sure is hot," Pakkun said nonchalantly.

"It's making the smell worse," Sakura gagged, using her other hand to fan away air from her face as they continued walking forward, deeper into the forest. "How far away from Snow are we?"

"Still a few cities. You do realize that this isn't just a campfire caused by stupid Genins, do you? This is somebody practicing a jutsu," Kakashi paused, hesitating. "Or using it." His solemn tone was noted, but for what reasons, Sakura didn't know. No, she didn't understand, not until 5 minutes later, as they walked into the clearing.

Kakashi hacked violently, doubled over. Something was _rotting_. All they could do was close their eyes and hope for the smoke to clear, and when it finally did, Sakura opened her eyes. Upon opening her leafy orbs, she promptly met his. Both of them. Blood red and cloudy grey. The former one was spinning idly. Her gut wrenched.

"What?" She said harshly, sounding more defensive than she'd meant to.

"Nothing, I'm just experimenting something,"

"I'm not stupid, Kakashi. Tell me what's going on behind your back." She stated it clearly, even though his eye was beginning to spin faster, and her mind was already reeling.

"Pakkun," Kakashi said sternly. There was a quick shuffling, and then a pop. "You _really _don't want to see this, Sakura," he pulled her hitae-ate down. Sakura felt the weight drop onto the bridge of her nose. The cool metal seemed to sizzle against her hot skin. It was _burning_... But at least the weather was nice. And the sky was clear. Were those flowers? _Snapdragons?_ Holy cow, chocolate! Mountains of it!

Wait. Wait a second. _You sure know how to lay it on thick, Kakashi_. Sakura ground her teeth, snapping her hitae-ate back up and shoving Kakashi out of the way when she was sure he would least expect it. His concentration broke, and the genjutsu snapped. The bitter smell pierced her nostrils again.

When her eyes found what Kakashi had been desperately trying to hide from her, her lips parted, her pupils shrunk visibly, and she screamed, falling to her knees.

* * *

She was so quiet. She'd never been so voluntarily quiet.

It scared Kakashi out of his wits.

He was dragging her along as they searched– rushed was more like it– to the next village. Her eyes were dazed, lifeless, almost crossed; her body heavy like lead and curled uncomfortably against his chest. She was shivering like no tomorrow, like she'd just been dunked into Snow's river and pinned to a clothesline to blow dry.

It'd taken him longer than he'd expected to quell her screaming, high and reedy. She'd bent into the earth, fingers in her ears, eyes squeezed shut. _No no no,_ she'd screamed, shaking her head back and forth, back and forth, left, right, left, right. And when he'd finally stopped her, paralyzed her by pinching the two nerves at the base of her neck, she'd fallen limp into his arms, complying, but the stupefied, robotic glaze never once leaving her eyes.

What surprised him was that she hadn't cried.

And now she was breaking into a fever. Was she going crazy inside her own mind? _Where the hell is the hotel?_ He groused, shoving open the entrance to an important looking building. A startled group of people looked up from their playing cards; he refrained from grabbing them by the neck and questioning them. After 7 doors slammed, he finally found it. A quaint looking building, but it was warm inside, and that was pretty much all that mattered. He tossed a crumpled bill onto the desk, grabbed a random set of keys hanging from the hook behind the front desk girl, and took the stairs 3 at a time. By the time he reached the room, Sakura lip was bleeding from her insistent gnawing.

He rolled her onto the comforter and pressed a wet towel to her mouth, pressing his fingers into the bruises she'd made when she'd dug her nails into her arms. Her eyes stared straight through him, unflinching. He shook her lightly, than roughly, her head snapping back and forth. Sakura's eyes finally met his, uninterested. Kakashi shook her. She snapped out of her reveree and slapped him, hard, the crack echoing off the ugly walls. He grabbed her hands when they rained on him, and she breathed unevenly, choking over her words.

"I- I-" She swallowed, and her next word came out brokenly, "Naruto." Her pupils dilated again, and her fists slackened, "Burning, rotting," Sakura 's face was flushed. "I can't- Kakashi, I can't-" He let her go, and she stood up sharply, fleeing to the bathroom. Kakashi fell onto his rear, just barely comprehending her quick run for it.

She was huddled against the corner of the cold porcelain tub, breathing deeply. Her knees were pulled up, and her head was tucked away, hands wrapped around herself.

"Sakura," Kakashi coaxed, kneeling besides the tub.

"I've never seen something like that," Sakura deadpanned, voice muffled. "Someone being burnt alive. 3rd degrees burns, yes. But actual flesh being eaten away by fire."

"It happens all the time."

_No!_ Sakura wanted to scream, shake him violently. _Don't say that like it's ok! Don't pretend everything is ok! I don't want to ever see that again, even if I'm damned to Hell and back and then to Hell again!_

"Sakura," Kakashi said again, her name leaving wit his breath. He seemed exasperated. "You can't dwell over it, we still have a mission to compl–"

"Is that all this is to you, Kakashi?" Sakura said quietly. "Can you really just look past that, turn away like a blind man?"

"Well, I'm half blind," Kakashi joked. Bad move. _Really _bad move.

"I can't believe you!" Sakura screamed, throwing a punch at him, Kakashi just barely dodging it. "I can't believe you, you sonuvabitch! You're not an ninja! You're just a hardass who can throw a couple of kunai, but when everybody leaves you, what're you gonna have?" She hollered, punch after punch. "You won't have _anything_," Tears were sliding down her face like raindrops down an umbrella. They rained down onto his lap, around him, splashing onto her. "How can you _live_ with that?" She was gasping, sobbing, choking all over her fragile words. "How could you live without the people you loved?" And she was clawing at him, and he let her, and when she was spent, she fell against him, tears soaking through his shirt, seeping through h

is clothes, wetting his chest.

"I saw Naruto," she hiccuped, her voice muffled by his shirt. "And I thought Sasuke killed him." She said this so faintly, he just barely heard. "But when you didn't react, I knew something was wrong."

Huh?

She pulled away, and he stared in awe at her puffy face. Well, that and her clear eyes. They were faintly pink at the edges, but her face was the only thing bloated. "I figured if you'd seen what I'd seen, you'd go berserk," he could hear the accusation lacing her tone. "Maybe I'm wrong," Kakashi stiffened. "But if I am, don't tell me, because I like thinking that we ever meant anything to you." She stated this bitterly, leaning against the cold, white bathtub. She got up, leaving him in the bathroom. He followed her with his eyes.

Sakura stopped at the door, placing a hand on the frame, and then said quietly, her voice like the wind. "The day of the attack, my parents had already gone out when I'd left to relay a message to Tsunade-shishou. When I came back, the entire apartment complex had been burned down." Her grip tightened.

"Including my parents."

When she left to go to her room, the door clicked soundly. Kakashi blinked. The frame splintered exactly where she had been grasping tightly to.

* * *

Light filtered through the canopy. Sakura yawned, stretching out and letting her joints pop. Her eyes had been mortifyingly puffy when she'd dragged herself to the mirror. She hadn't exchanged a single word with Kakashi-sensei since last night. "Can we take an actual road today?" She asked nervously, acting as if nothing had gone down yesterday, acting like the image of her best friend's flesh being eaten away by flames hadn't been burned into the back of her eyelids. She couldn't _not_ think about it– it'd been seared, imprinted, branded into her memory.

"Sure," Kakashi said shortly, pacing himself in front of her. Suddenly, he lept into the leafy roof, shooting ahead. Sakura followed, hating to admit that she was more than a little scared to be a lone, hating herself for being _afraid_. Just because of his odd showing of actual humanity last night didn't mean she could rely on him. Absolutely not.

They landed together, their sandals touching the ground lightly with no sound. Sakura straightened up and cleared her throat. "Uuh," _Great. I sound like an idiot._ "What's next?"

Kakashi shot her a sidelong glance, "Are you still trying to get me to talk?"

"All I asked was what village was next."

"Your female wiles are not lost on me," He said slyly, eye-crease and all, pulling out his lover– _Icha Icha_.

"You're crazy," Sakura grumbled, but glad that the awkwardness had been broken. Everything was back to normal. Now she had to make sure Kakashi told no one– not that she thought he would. First of all, who would he tell it to? To put it simply, if Kakashi had been a nin in her time and generation, he would have been a friendless loser.

_Haaarrsshh_. But Sakura shrugged internally.

It took all her willpower not to laugh out loud. ("_EL-OH-EL!" _Naruto would have screamed out. What in the Hokage's name was an el-oh-el?) The one-eyed nin still caught her grinning stupidly, though. His eyes narrowed.

"What're you plotting?" _Flip_.

"The downfall of all man-kind."

"When they say man-kind, it includes females."

"All man-kind with sticky outy body parts."

"Sticky outy? Sakura. You're a medic-nin."

"If I know what it is, I'm entitled to call it whatever I want!"

They walked in comfortable silence, Kakashi with his nose in his book and Sakura with her head lifted towards the sky, watching the clouds pass by. Suddenly, Kakashi snapped his book shut.

"You saw Naruto? Are you sure?" His tone was cheerful, but Sakura knew he was asking for a reason.

"I'm positive. I know it was Naruto." There was something fierce in her eyes. Oddly though, Kakashi was sure (Positive, in fact.) that it hadn't been Naruto. Unfortunately, he hadn't gotten a clear view of who it had been. _A stranger_, he thought. Bits and pieces of what he saw flashed before him though, and he felt like he _had_ known the burning victim. He'd seen a lot of red. A lot. Hm.

Sakura tugged at the back of her sandal, hopping forward to keep up with Kakashi. "The weird thing is, he was still a kid. Besides your lack of care, that was what else lead me on. I'd never be able to mistake a ninja in orange, you know?" She grinned widely, setting her foot back down.

"What's Naruto mean to you?" Kakashi asked, more out of curousity than anything; Sakura replied defensively, misinterpreting his question.

"What _doesn't_ he mean to me? He wasted all those years looking for Sasuke for me, to keep a stupid promise that I regret ever making. I could care less about that chicken-head now, but he's still looking." She was quiet. "But I think Naruto and Sasuke had something." She looked down, embarrassed. "Naruto's my best friend and he thinks the same of me, but I'm pretty sure he knows that it's been Sasuke this whole time that's really been by his side." She became extremely interested in the dust flying up from each kick of her sandal. "It's hard to find people like Naruto," her voice dropped. "We're so lucky."

"I was almost worried you were in love with him there," Kakashi chuckled, pretending to feel nervous. Sakura shot him a withering glare.

"If you'd been listening to me talking about my exes, you would have realized that Naruto is not my type." She almost gagged at the image of dates to Ichiraku. Hinata really didn't know what she was setting herself up for.

"Neither is Sasuke," Kakashi mused, raising his eyebrows slightly. Sakura blinked, then looked away. Shuffled her feet. Tripped over a stone.

"Yeah. He's not." Her voice was muted. She was warring internally. "You know, you're a lot like Sasuke. Even when you were young, I've heard. I've heard about your team, too." Pause. Kakashi waited for her question, patiently. He knew it would come sooner or later, and he supposed it was better sooner. "What was it like?"

And before he knew it, he had launched quietly into an explanation of each of his old teammates. _Obito was like Naruto. Rin was like... you. _

"Did she have a thing for you?" Sakura joked, grinning cheekily. When Kakashi didn't reply, her smile dropped and she stared at him with a stricken expression. "Wow, sounds like history repeating itself! Next thing you know, Sasuke's gonna get crushed under a rock, and Naruto's gonna get it implanted in by _me–_"

"No, that mixes it up," Kakashi shot back quickly. "Obito was the nice one."

"I bet you were a ladies' man," Sakura said snidely, leering at Kakashi with a devious smile.

"Erm. Not really," He said so calmly, but he shrugged in discomfort.

"Girls like the strong and silent type."

"Girls are weird."

Sakura ignored his immature comment, choosing instead to skip ahead, whistling. _Oh, the mysteries of Hatake Kakashi_. She laughed to herself.

"Obito was my best friend." The silver-haired nin said suddenly, and Sakura looked back over her shoulder. He was holding _Icha Icha_ out in front of him, but he was looking at her. "And Obito liked Rin."

"I figured as much," Sakura said plainly, letting her sensei catch up. "How long ago was this?"

"Not _that_ long ago," Kakashi narrowed his eye. Or eyes, Sakura couldn't tell. "I'm the same age as you." And then his eye-creased. Sakura's eye creased, too.

"Thanks for reminding me, Kakashi-_sensei_." Sakura emphasized, holding her hand up in a victory sign, knowing she had won.

"Don't call me that," Kakashi replied playfully, waving his hand like a girl. "We're friends, aren't we, Sakura?" He batted his eyelashes. Sakura turned green.

"We are if it'll make you stop doing that." Kakashi immediately dropped the facade and pulled the book back up.

Sakura stared dumbly. _The mystery of Hatake Kakashi_, she mused.


	3. Chapter 3

a/n: Dadada, Tada! Chapter 3! Finally. One of them starts to feel the slight flutterings of affection. It's nothing major, don't get excited, I'm trying to go slow. Unless you want me to speed it up, just review and say so! Yayay!! Oh, and sorry if I somewhat spoiled it for you. But you'll get to read exactly what happens!!

I switch between POVs a lot, have you noticed? Sorry if it causes confusion! But I'm sure that you'll be able to tell who it is a few sentences in. Oh. And I'm REALLY comma happy. -sad face- And I can't believe I spent that much time describing the kimonos (You'll see what I mean later.). I don't like describing clothes, HAHAHA.

I'd just like to warn you first (I always find myself warning you all about my mistakes. LOL!! Sorry!) if you haven't already noticed, my inconsistency with verb tense. Most of the story is told in past tense or past participle or _whatever_ (My strong point in academics is literature, but I don't care much for details. This is this and that is that and if it gives me an A, goody!); I just hope that it makes enough sense. And sometimes I make a LOT of typos; I have no beta, sorry again! I reread each chapter after I upload it, and I'm like, way to be a loser, Lisa... Haha, anyways! I usually use a lot of smilies when I type, but when they get broken up on FanFiction, I hate it, so I don't use smilies. Hope I don't come off as scary!

Otherwise, enjoy the read! And thank you so very much!!~ (This chapter turned out so much longer than I expected.)

**The Only Exception**

_And that was the day that I promised:  
I'd never sing of love  
If it does not exist.  
But darling, you are the only exception._

_Maybe I know, somewhere,  
Deep in my soul,  
That love never lasts  
And we've got to find other ways  
To make it alone  
Or keep a straight face._

_And I've always lived like this,  
Keeping a comfortable distance–  
And up until now  
I had sworn to myself that I'm  
Content with loneliness–  
Because none of it was ever worth the risk. _

"I'm going to go on a man-diet," Sakura said pensively, holding a finger thoughtfully against her cheek.

"Men don't go on diets," Kakashi said from behind his book, use to Sakura's aimless ponderings. Her train of thought ran on a railroad of unexpectedness. In fact, he was sure the tracks weren't even built beforehand; they just fell onto the ground randomly as the train went. Maybe they didn't even connect at points– that would explain her occasional abrupt change in topic. Now _Icha Icha_, that was something else entirely. Always concise, connected and fluid. Never aimless and _always_ on track. Jiraiya really was a literary genius.

"No, I mean I'm not going to date. Not until I'm 40. I can be a 40 year old virgin." Sakura beamed like she had just discovered a jutsu that could kill off all evil nins in just a single hand motion. Kakashi scoffed.

"Very likely," he said with amusement, his tone sounding all but agreeable.

"You don't believe me!" Sakura crossed her arms, pouting. "I'll show you. I'll have them begging at my feet. _Ha!_" There was a triumphant gleam in her eye; Kakashi worried mildly.

"Of course, when did I say I didn't agree?" Kakashi's eye creased. Sakura glared.

"Tell me about your... love-life," Sakura smiled– or, err, bared her teeth with the corners of her lips tilted up.

"Besides that is doesn't exist?"

"What are you talking about, you're reading it right now," Sakura cackled, throwing her head back and laughing at her own joke. Kakashi rolled his eyes, and when Sakura calmed down, wiping the tears from her eyes, she said, "Ok, I'm sorry, that was rude of me, but I'm entirely serious now." She straightened, tugging at the hem of her normal, red uniform. "And don't lie, I've heard of your novel-worthy past," Her smile was sweeter and genuine this time.

Kakashi snapped his book shut, slipped it into one of the pocket's of his vest, and stuffed his hands in his pocket. He _hmm_ed a little, tilted his head, and acted as if he was deep in thought. "There was this one time, when I was just born, one of the nurses stole me away from my mother so that _she_ could raise me, as she had fallen madly in love with me at first sight–"

"Bull!" Sakura laughed, shaking her head at the same time. She appreciated his sense of humor, but she'd shoot herself if Kakashi was anything but a pathological liar.

He smiled wanly, and when she looked at him and asked, "Can't you just tell me anything without lying?" He was somewhat disturbed by his sudden interest in the way the sun hit her eyes and turned them two shades lighter. And the way they glittered. He jostled his things when he shook his head.

"Is that a no?" Sakura arched her eyebrows. She had never expected his little lying problem to be so... well... _big_.

"No. I mean, no, it's not a no. Which means yeah, I can tell you stuff without lying. You know?" Sakura gazed at him blankly before reaching out and pressing a hand against his forehead.

"Maybe we should stop, your face is all red. It's almost night, anyways." Without waiting for his answer, she dropped her knapsack; it hit the dirty ground with a light _thud_. "If you set up the sleeping bags, I'll cook," she smiled and pulled out a box of instant curry. Kakashi nodded, resisting the urge to slam his face repeatedly into his palm for what had just happened. Sakura turned her back to him to set the fire, placing stones in a ring around the dry twigs.

As one pot boiled the curry and potatoes and the other pot steamed the rice, Sakura mused at how red Kakashi really had been. Was he hiding a deep, dark secret from him? A small smile crept onto her face, but she stooped over each silver pot to hide it. She poked pointlessly at the potatoes.

Kakashi, on the other hand, had sunk into the deep end. As soon as Sakura had left it to him to spread the sleeping bags and secure them, he had thought relentlessly of Rin.

Maybe at one point he had started returning her feelings– albeit a little too late. The copy ninja squashed down the sigh that fought it's way up. Love had a sick, twisted mind. It was almost amazing, _incredible_ even, that memories so long gone could still affect him like this. Then again, it wasn't as if he wasn't a walking reminder of his best friend. He couldn't look into a mirror without wanting to smash it in. Watching the sharingan spin was like a hazy memoir of Obito; he remembered the first time he had seen it. His enthusiastic friend had pulled his upper eyelid up and the lower eyelid down with his fingers and just barely hollered, "KAKA-TEME, LOOKIT THIS!" And Kakashi, who was halfway over a river they were crossing, looked back into the idiot's spinning eye. He got caught in the illusion and plunged into the bone-freezing water. After Rin had used a warming jutsu on him, he'd glared unyieldingly at the spazztic nin.

And it only took until Obito was crushed under a rock for him to realize how much the sharingan-user had meant to him.

Rin wasn't much different. He'd always found her annoying when she trailed after him. "Kakashi, you look sick, you should stay behind. Kakashi, you're tired, slow down. Kakashi, let me heal that wound," to which he'd struggle against her administration and say stoically, "just sick a band-aid on it and get it over with." Obito would always glare (Pout? Kakashi would roll his eyes) at him and then spin away. But now, too many years later, he'd run his fingers over the scars around his eyes and awe at how much Rin had done for him, at so young an age. And she was gone, too.

It struck him, the similarities running between Rin and Sakura. Both 'in love' with the quiet one, although Sakura was more outspoken. Rin had been more conserved with a sweet temper, although her getting angry was the equivalent of Sakura's rage. Both had extreme prowess in the medical field, although Sakura had most likely long surpassed Rin, and both were quite good looking (If he may say so himself.). And both being loved by the loud mouth.

"You've been staring at the rock for almost 10 minutes, Kakashi-sensei." Sakura said bemusedly. Kakashi jolted out of his thoughts, pressing his thumb and middle-finger against his temple.

"Yeah, sorry. And you can drop the suffix." That curry smelled _reaaalllyy_ good.

"Well, the foods done, so if you wanna–" Her hair fanned across her face as Kakashi sped to the fire. "Right. Yeah. I was gonna say that, but nevermind." She grumbled, picking out her own pair of chopsticks.

When she sat down, Kakashi looked up from his bowl, which conveniently covered his mouth. "This is good," he said, wide-eyed. Sakura narrowed her own.

"You sound surprised."

Kakashi's eye-creased. Ironic how even with his mask off, she still had to tell he was smiling by his eyes. "Well, you did say you almost killed Neji."

"You were listening? And no, _he_ said that. Anyways, instant is easy. I know how to make instant anything." She had, after all, roomed with Naruto for a few weeks after the war, which was a sufficient amount of time to learn 'the Instants,' as Naruto had dubbed them.

"Instant Ramen, Instant Curry, Instant Coffee, and Instant Oatmeal." He'd slammed them onto the counter-top after claiming he had to teach Sakura the 'easy way to take life.' Sakura had managed a crooked smile through her tears.

"They'll take you far," he smiled, dumping the ground black beans into a machine. The little lessons had taken her mind off her parents.

Her parents. Her heart broke a little, but she continued eating. She finished quickly, her eyes stinging. Tonight was gonna be a long night.

* * *

In reality, Kakashi doubted that Sakura's _greatest_ fear was losing a life; perhaps it was one of her great_er_ ones, but not her greatest. That, he concluded, was burning. The way she cringed when the fish he had stuck into the spit sizzled and popped gave it away. Her greatest phobia was not only recently acquired but also very obvious.

Honestly, the sudden interest in Sakura's fears wouldn't have started at all if she hadn't curled up against him in the middle of the night. When dark had settled, the night turned so cold that they had to find a hotel. When they finally reached the nearest city, the only hotel they had had only one room left– the smallest, coincidentally. They resolved to sharing a bed, Sakura one side, Kakashi the other (There was no couch. What kind of ratty hotel was this?). When Sakura fell asleep, her partner was still awake, squished and debating whether to just sleep on the floor. The room was warm, at least, so he didn't have to worry about that. Then Sakura had mumbled something incoherent and rolled closer to him, pulling herself into a small ball. Kakashi twisted around to pry her off.

Her face was flushed, and her hair stuck to her neck in strands, glued by sweat. Her eyebrows were furrowed deeply, and she was breathing heavily, as if something was lodged in her throat. A tear raced down her face. Alarmed, Kakashi's mind tumbled, wondering what was happening and what to do.

"Mama? Papa?" Quiet sobbing.

It hit Kakashi, and he stared for a few more seconds, her sobbing still soft but serious. Her crying sounded like rain hitting a window-pane, gentle, but with rhythm. She fisted the down comforters, still dreaming. When she released them and her tears fell like a stream, he strung a warm arm around her. Slowly, she calmed, until she stopped completely, breathing even. She pressed against him unknowingly, tight against his chest.

"Naruto," she breathed, voice shaky.

It was just her dreaming, but something in Kakashi twinged like a violin string being plucked.

* * *

The bed was very cold. It was the kind of cold she wished her bed was during the summer, when she would kick her legs around the covers, searching for an icy area. Right now, however, she wanted anything but cold. The pro was knowing how close to Snow they were– the con was how _cold _it was, obviously. Uncomfortable, she snuggled into the warmth beside her, smiling.

Whatever it was keeping her warm shot out of the bed like a bullet, pulling the covers off of her. A sudden weight was lifted off of her. She groaned, tugging the comforter back up; they complied easily. In fact, they practically flew back onto her, as if someone had thrown them on her. She smiled sleepily. _Waarrmmm_.

She rolled around restlessly for a minute or two, finally settling happily into the warm spot next to her, curling into a fetal position. She opened her eyes, inhaling the foreign scent and rubbing her puffy eyes.

_Puffy?_

She pieced it together, figuring that she'd had a nightmare last night. She stared emptily at the bathroom door, listening to the shower run. _What_ had she dreamed about? She closed her eyes, but to no avail. Frustrated, she slammed a fist into the pillow beside her. Suddenly, images of Naruto poured into her mind like a bucket of paint.

Memories of him coddling her every time she had broken down at the most unexpected times rose in her mind. She'd been boiling water for ramen once when she'd remembered her mother doing the same for her, and she's cried until her eyes were so swollen she couldn't see through them. And the whole time, Naruto had been there, patting her and hugging her and listening, because he knew that nobody besides him and Sasuke knew what she was going through– and even then, they didn't really understand.

And another time, when he'd try to talk to her. "Sakura, they're gone–"

"_No_, they're not! They're hiding, somewhere, because they're nins too, Naruto!"

"_Sakura_," He'd said in exasperation. "I know you don't want to believe it, but I juts think it's time that you moved on–"

"_Don't_. Don't tell me what to do. You don't know what the hell I'm going through, Naruto. You were only a _baby_ when you lost your parents. You couldn't have understood it. You had no idea!" Her voice had risen octave after octave, like a pianist playing a scale from one end to the other.

After, Naruto had stared at her blankly and gotten up, slamming the door as he left.

"That's right, get the fuck out," Sakura had screamed as he left, but a few seconds later, she cried, wishing she hadn't been so rash.

He'd been out for 4 days and 3 nights. On the 4th night, as she waited loyally on the couch yet again, she'd fallen asleep, but not before hearing the door click open. The feeling of warm relief had washed over her when Naruto ruffled her hair and covered her in a quilt. In the morning, he was gone, but there was a gift wrapped sloppily on the kitchen table. An overly-stuffed Sasuke doll with button eyes; the stitches were messy and obviously done by hand, but she'd laughed out loud for the first time in a long time. Then she'd used a seam ripper to pull out the hair and clothes, taking her own time to reassemble the blonde hair she'd cut out. When she finished, she rubbed her thumb lovingly against the button before placing it on the island counter. In the end, Naruto had come home, picking up the miniature him that was leaning against a stack of books. She'd peeked out from behind the wall, watching the slow smile on his face.

Kakashi sighed, long and slow. His muscles loosened under the warm water, and his hair wilted from the weight of the water. Was it wrong for him to feel so winded up about Sakura calling out to Naruto in her dream? Why was it bothering him so much anyways? He reached out sluggishly, twisting the faucet until the water slowed to a stop. He dried off, appreciating the soft hotel towels, and then wrapped it around his waist, securing it. His hair was standing back up already.

When he opened the door, cold our rushed through, embracing him tightly. His hairs stood on end; he really hated the cold. Stupid Snow country. He'd have to talk with Tsunade about the missions she'd been sending him on lately, the old toad– err, slug. He chanced a glance at Sakura, who was smiling in a disturbingly drunk manner.

"What're you so happy about?" Kakashi watched as Sakura bolted into a sitting position, pulling out a kunai from behind her pillow. His silver eyebrows went up but smiled with slight delight (Not liked he'd ever actually smile like that.). "I trained you well."

Sakura shrugged, "You can never be too safe." Her eyes trailed from his head to his toes, and then she blushed furiously, slapping her hands over her eyes and falling back onto the mattress. First, one of Kakashi's eyebrows shot up higher than it already was, but then he smirked. He grabbed his toothbrush, flipping it in the air and catching it as he walked back to the bathroom. He swiped at the fogged mirror with his towel.

"Yen for your thoughts?" He asked out loud, his voice carrying out to the room. Sakura peered at him from the corners of her eyes.

"Nothing, really. Just thinking about Naruto."

He watched his own expression flicker mildly in the mirror. Was that _jealousy_? He wasn't stupid, he wasn't dumb. He'd recognize that emotion anywhere, especially since he'd once been a teenager (Usually because some dumb kid would get a jutsu before him. He was the smartest, after all.)... but _really_?

What was _wrong_ with him?

It was like his soul had been eaten. Well, maybe not that bad. But it was that serious. Slowly, he pressed his forehead against the edge of the sink, his toothbrush hanging over the bowl and the water still running. It was cool to touch, but he was still... jealous.

"We should go soon, we're only a city away," Sakura said, pulling open the blinds. The room lit up, infinitely brighter.

"Right. We should go." Kakashi lifted himself up and stared miserably into the glass.

* * *

If she knew any better, it would seem almost as if Kakashi was _avoiding _her. He wouldn't look at her, and when she walked faster to catch up to him, he would walk faster to get ahead. Soon, they were speed-walking through the forest, arms and legs swinging. A vein in her forehead throbbed, and she glared daggers into Kakashi's back.

"I wasn't informed that this was a race, Kakashi," Sakura glowered, dropping the suffix. She was slightly out of breath; there was something about speed-walking that was so much more straining than just running or walking.

"We should get there as soon as possible so we can get this over with." His voice was completely unaltered. He was calm and _not_ out of breath, and Sakura wanted to murder him. Brutally murder him.

"If you're gonna keep this up, I'm gonna make sure the whole of Konoha wonders where the CopyCat nin went for the rest of their lives." She snarled. When Kakashi stopped, she ran into him. He sighed.

"What do you want me to do? Carry you?"

Sakura smiled. "Finally, the man sees sense!" Kakashi kneeled onto the ground, looking over his shoulder expectantly. Sakura was about to sit onto his back when he leapt up into the trees, eye creased,

"See you next town over!" He saluted her, and then disappeared.

Flocks of birds showered out of the trees, surprised; the beasts in the forest howled as Sakura screamed.

* * *

"I've been waiting here for an hour," Kakashi said amiably when Sakura appeared out of the thicket of trees. He'd had enough time to browse the entire town. He watched as her face turned a complimenting shade of pink, which blended into a hot red. Her eyes flickered from his eyes to the stick of dango he was holding precariously, spinning it around his fingers.

"Can I have one?" Sakura asked so sweetly that Kakashi had to do a double-take. He shrugged, handing her the entire stick. He hadn't eaten any of them; he didn't like sweets. But a kind vender had given it to him when he'd asked where the hotel was.

"Tourist?"

"Err, yeah," Kakashi had replied, taking the stick hesitantly.

He stared in interest as Sakura pulled one of the balls off the stake with her hand, smiling. Suddenly, her smile dropped, and she smashed the sweet against his face.

"That was vicious," Kakashi stated, eye-creased. The sticky mochiko was smeared against his skin and mask, but he let it cling. There'd be time to find a bathroom later.

Sakura scowled at him, finishing off the rest of the rice flour. She gasped. "This is _good_. Wow, if I'd known, I wouldn't have wasted one on your face." She shot him another black look, and Kakashi stared back without without gratification. The next thing the pink-haired nin knew, she was being pinned to a tree, Kakashi's hand on other side of her, looming over her with his head only centimeters away from her own. Their noses almost touched, and there was a dark look in his eyes.

"Just so you know, I'm expecting _full cooperation _from you." He said it forcefully. Sakura held her breath, heart pounding. He could see the fright in her eyes. "If this is gonna work out, you better stop whining." Then he pushed himself off, not before shooting her a hard, cold glance. Sakura shuddered.

Kakashi was really scary, even when he had dango wiped against his cheek.

* * *

The sun was beating down on them unmercifully. Kakashi had broken into a sweat, and the shade the trees had to offer did absolutely nothing. There was no wind, so the two of them were left to swelter in the thick, ghastly humidity. The weather was odd for a place so close to Snow, but it wasn't unexpected. Kakashi, being the pro-nin he was, remembered travelling this road with others multiple times. It was just this time that he forgot to restock on water.

Sakura, however, was shivering up a storm. Her teeth chattered in a staccato beat, a string of fast notes. He hadn't scared her _that_ much, had he? When he looked back, her eyes were glassy. She sneezed.

A cold? Not likely.

"Can we stop?" She asked weakly, voice faint. Without waiting for his consent, she fell onto a stump, breathing raggedly.

"We're only a few miles away, we can make it before sunset if we don't stop." Kakashi said, looking down at her. She stared back up reproachfully.

"What if I did on the way there? I feel like I'm going to. Any second now. You'd like that, wouldn't you? You'd finally get rid of me." Kakashi flinched. She didn't really think that, did she? "Just go. I don't wanna go anymore." He reached down, pressing a hand against her forehead. He pulled back fast. She was _burning_. He could've cracked an egg on her head, and it would've fried right there.

"You've got a fever." _A really high one._

"Thanks for the 411." Sakura retorted, slapping his hand away. "I'm just gonna..." Then she fainted without finishing her sentence. Kakashi's brow furrowed, and he lifted her into his arms. She swayed limply, mouth open slightly.

He ran through the trees, hoping the breeze would cool her off. But when he stopped at the next clearing, she only seemed to burning hotter. He laid her down, pressed a cool compress to her crown, and set up camp. He'd been boiling rice when she came to.

"Water?" She croaked, eyes bleary. Kakashi handed her his canteen, and she glugged the cold liquid down with appreciation. Some of it streamed out of the corners of her mouth. When she handed it back, it was completely empty. She moaned. "Anymore?"

"You just chugged an entire 700 milliliter bottle of water, and you're asking for more?" He stared at her incredulously.

"700 milliliter?" Sakura whispered. She could barely manage the slight amazement in her own voice. "I feel like I haven't had a drop." She hissed. "It's so hot."

Something was definitely wrong.

"Don't–" He started as Sakura attempted to stand to her feet. She wobbled dangerously, leaning against a tree for support.

"I'm going to take a dunk in that coool, _cold_ water." She stumbled, hitting a tree. "Ow– sorry about that." Kakashi followed her, a sigh playing on his lips. He picked up the towel that was conveniently folded against his chair.

He sat as Sakura stripped, his back against a tree, facing away from her. When she fell into the river, she swore. Then she groaned. Then his mind went into overdrive, and he had to force himself to stop thinking so dirtily.

He stared at the sky for a few minutes, then got up, spreading the towel in front of him so he couldn't see. "You really shouldn't do that. You'll just make it worse." He saw her silhouette jump.

"Are you–"

"No. Just get out."

"Haha, I'm so hot that there's steam around me. You should look." Sakura giggled.

Kakashi resisted the urge to slam his head against a tree. And he resisted the urge to look. "Sakura," He warned, his voice low.

"Loosen up, Kakashi," she slurred, before slipping under.

_Great_.

It wouldn't have been that bad if she'd at least been wearing something. The gods were really working against him today. First the dango, then the weather, now this. He dived into the water, pulling his teammate up by her arm, and wrapped the towel around her. He lowered his ear to her mouth. She was breathing, although there was a slight gurgling. Nothing a slap on the back wouldn't help. So he lifted her into a sitting position, holding the towel up, and clapped a fist against her back. She coughed up water, then blinked furiously.

She stared at him for a few seconds, woozy, before laying her head on his shoulder, sniffling. "Can you just carry me back home?" Her voice was nasally and somewhat whiny, but he he couldn't help but pity her.

"Sorry," he murmured, lifted her over his shoulder. She whimpered against his back.

"I feel like shit. You must hate me for being such a crybaby," She inhaled shakily. Kakashi winced; her hip bone was digging into his shoulder.

"No, it's fine,"

"You don't have to lie to me." She mumbled, voice muffled.

"Honestly, it doesn't bother me," But she was snoring. He shook his head.

The rice was lukewarm when he got back. He'd laid Sakura back down, and now she was rolling around fitfully. At least her fever was breaking. Suddenly, her eyes flew open, and she ran into the forest, hand over her mouth. He heard her retching, cringing.

"Dango." She rasped, wiping her mouth with her arm. "It tasted so bad going up," She chugged another canteen of water, exhaling appreciatively when she finished. Something in Kakashi's head clicked.

"The dango was poisoned," he said in a no-doubt-about-it tone. They exchanged a glance, and then Sakura fled back into the forest, probably looking to dig up her breakfast. A few minutes later, she stomped up to Kakashi, a pissed look on her face.

"Why is Snow trying so hard to kill us?" She exclaimed. She'd yelled too loud, because her head began spinning, and her eyes rolled back. When the sensation stopped, she began digging through her bag. "I can't believe I missed this." She pulled out a round bottle and a needle. She filled the needle with the blue antidote, then searched for a vein and stabbed it in. The substance was thick, and there was a squishing sound when she pressed the needle down to inject it. "We can go now," she said nonchalantly, tossing the needle into a nearby bush. Kakashi was staring at her. "The medicine in the dango was actually just something Snow's people use when they get a fever. They're use to the cold weather, so to cure a fever they've gotta use something colder than norm. We're normal people, so it works as a poison for us."

For a while nobody said anything, then Kakashi broke the silence. "We can make it to Snow in 2 or 3 hours. It'll be nightfall by then, but not past 11. By the time–"

"– we finish going over the mission, the plan, and getting dressed, it'll be 10." Sakura finished, grinning.

"You're better."

"Much," Sakura replied cheekily, winking and throwing her bag over her shoulder. "Let's go."

* * *

With renewed energy, Sakura and Kakashi made it within 2 hours. An hour and thirty, Kakashi would brag. Just barely 2 hours, Sakura would say modestly. But that was besides the point.

"You're my fiancee, and I'm your husband to be," Kakashi reminded her. Sakura sighed.

"I know. What was the point of this mission, again?" She grumbled, rummaging through her rucksack to find the kimonos Tsunade had supplied for her. Kakashi stood by her idly.

"They've got plans to sabotage Sand, remember?"

"Right. And we're suppose to get them? We don't even know where they are."

Kakashi smiled. "Well, we've got time."

"Sure, time to lose." She gave a sharp cry of victory, tugging out the oriental dress piece. It was smooth to touch, made of expensive silk. "Where'd Tsunade get _these_?" She whistled, leaning back to appreciate its beauty. She tossed the white kimono to Kakashi, then the blue haori that went over it. Kakashi caught it swiftly, ducking out of the cave to change.

When Sakura pulled out the kimono Tsunade she'd almost shrieked. She looked around furtively before pulling out all of the many pieces, eyes wide and glistening. _This is a susohiki kimono! I can't pull this off!_ The hem dusted the floor, even when she held up her arms as high as they could go. She held it delicately, admiring the simple yet intricate design of orange, pink, and yellow-bordering-on-gold sakura flowers that swirled and trailed around the kimono. It looked remarkably like a sunset, and she had a feeling that that was what Tsunade had been going after. She bit her bottom lip. _Dang_. Suddenly she was very excited for the rest of the mission. There was a built in nagajuban underneath the actual kimono to keep it clean, and when Sakura slipped it on, it was amazingly light. She tied the obi so it fit snugly, comfortably.

_I've got to ask Tsunade who her seamstress is_. Now, if only there was a mirror. She pinned her hair up into a bun, letting a few tresses fall to the sides of her face and hang around the roll. She stuck in the senbon needles, which were cleverly disguised as decorative chopsticks.

"Well," Kakashi whistled, leaning against the cave's opening. Sakura turned sharply to face him, surprised.

"Oh." She watched as he looked her up and down with appraisal. She did the same, heart pounding.

_Weird_. She shrugged it off.

The only way to put it was, "_DAMN he looks good._" Sakura smiled to herself. Birds (Probably crows, she laughed.) dotted the sky blue haori the same way the sakuras swirled around her's. They reached towards his collar, flying up, up, and away, it seemed. When their eyes met, he appeared disgruntled. "What?" She said shyly. She almost choked. _This is _Kakashi._ Don't get so overwhelmed._

"Nothing." He said without conviction. "Here, I found this in the folds." He tossed to her a hair-pin; a relatively large lotus was welded onto it. It looked almost like a _very_ miniature kanzashi. Tiny cherry blossoms (Sakura could sense the theme.) hanging from thin strings.

"Thanks," she replied enthusiastically, reaching back to pin it in. She couldn't find the right spot.

"I'll do it," Kakashi pried it from her hands, sticking it in. He let his hand linger for a second.

"Kakashi?"

"Huh," He sounded, a half his face tugging into a disbelieving and half-hearted smile. "Put it up to Tsunade to..." His voice trailed into silence, and he shook his head. "Nevermind, let's get going."

Sakura nodded, hiding her bag in a hole they had dug, covering it with a rock.

* * *

Of course Tsunade would do that. Of course she would fit Sakura with the same kimono that he'd once seen before, on another woman, one that he'd almost wedded if she hadn't died in an S-ranked mission days before the announcement. But it'd been 12 years ago. 12 long years; he'd been 19. He hadn't really loved another female since then. It was so... pointless. A waste of time, if you must. There was no gratification in being married or in love. It was just a feeling. He'd concluded that he'd do fine without it. So when he'd attended her funeral, he hadn't shed a tear. After all, that was rule number 25 in the handbook.

And so life went on. But even then, he couldn't explain the sweat he'd broken into when he'd saw Sakura twirling in her kimono, looking like a geisha.

* * *

"Oh, wow," Sakura breathed, mesmerized by the sight before her.

"That _is_ pretty impressive," Kakashi said with reluctance. Sakura emitted an odd sound, something between a scoff of disbelief and a bark of laughter.

"Impressive? It's _amazing_. It's a castle made entirely of ice!" Her eyes reflected the building. It was formed entirely of ice, which shimmered from the lights that hit it and bounced off. It wasn't clear though- the ice was too thick.

"Snow's known for their ice sculpting."

"But it's huge!" She exclaimed, shaking her head. Snowflakes the size of Kakashi's thumb tumbled from her hair like flower petals. Night had dropped like a stage background, sudden and unexpected. The sky was clear; the stars winked above their heads. "This doesn't even count as a sculpture."

"We'll be rooming in there for a few weeks," Kakashi grinned. Sakura's jaw dropped.

"Wow. I'm loving Tsunade right now," Her eyes danced. Kakashi would've agreed, but one look at her sparkling eyes and kimono, and he was cursing Tsunade again. _What is _wrong_ with me?_ "Ok. So we ring the doorbell, hope our finger doesn't get stuck, and tell them we're the nins assigned to safeguard the Princess for the next few days?"

Thankfully, Kakashi was wrenched out of his despairing thoughts and bobbed his head lackadaisically.

"Do we need names?"

"No, they were told who we are."

"Oh. Alright. I'll bet they're overjoyed to have the CopyCat nin in their company." She grinned widely at him.

_They know who you are and what you're there to do; they don't know what you're _really_ after_, Tsunade had tipped off, eyeballing them apprehensively. _Whatever you do, don't screw up_. The edge in her voice gave away how serious the matter really was.

"I guess it's time," she announced, sounding too much like a prophet.

"I guess it is." And so they traipsed onwards towards the door. Kakashi lifted a hand to ring the bell, but the doors swung open. A man in a yukata (Isn't he cold? Sakura wondered. The only reason why she wasn't cold was because of the extra padding underneath.) stood before them, smiling benignly.

"Kakashi and... Sakura?" Sakura ignored the pause before her name.

Sakura nodded, Kakashi held up a hand and said casually, "Yo."

"We've been waiting for you; I'm Kazuko, the Princess's butler. Come in!" Sakura glanced at Kakashi, who kept his zoris on. She followed suit, reveling in the beauty and warmth. If only she had more eyes– she was getting whiplash from turning her head left and right so fast. When Kazuko stopped to show them their room, she marveled.

"I'm sleeping in _here_?" She said with her jaw dropped.

"Is there something wrong? Would you like another room?" Kazuko worried, his brow knit.

"Oh, nononono. That's not what I meant. This is incredible!" His eyes softened, and he seemed extremely relieved.

"I'm glad you think so; they're our second biggest guest rooms."

"If you don't mind my asking, who else is here?" Kakashi wondered out loud, looking around for anybody else. Sakura nudged him, shooting him a _just-cause-we-didn't-get-the-biggest-room-doesn't-mean-you-should-pin-the-blame-on-someone-else!_ look.

"Oh, just the Princess's... fiancee." Kazuko's eyes flashed. At his reply, Kakashi elbowed Sakura back and pinned a smug _haha-in-your-face_ look on her. Sakura made a noise of disapproval. _You're-being-childish_, she said with her eyes. He shrugged, still over-confident.

"Well, I've got to get going. If you need help, just ring the second button to the left," he pointed at the button next to the light switch, "and one of the maids will come running. The Princess is waiting–"

As if on cue, there was a bloodcurling shriek.


	4. Chapter 4

a/n: Aaah. Finally. The beginning of the REAL action! Yippeeee! Well, just as a side note of my author's note, you've prolly noticed by now that I always but the author's note at the top, then as I go along, I add stuff to here. It'd be helpful if you'd tell me where you prefer the notes, top or bottom~ Thank you! I hate adding author's notes, because I think they ruin the mood. Or they make the page all ugly. Hahaha~

Oh, and just another little annoying note (I'm sorry! xD): I really appreciate reviews. Like, when you guys tell me that you can't wait for me to update, or when you guys are like, "UPDATE NOW," (Yes, even that.) get's me all hyped up, hahaha! And it's a reminder to work on the chapter. Plus, seeing the review number goes up is like... euphoria. But actually, reviews aren't necessary; they're appreciated from time to time, but I'm just glad everybody even reads this!

And lastly, in the last chapter, I accidentally put "Yen for your thoughts?" I meant Ryo. But... I... made a mistake. Eeew. Lmao~

Well... Here I go, chapter 4! Enjoy!

**Misery Business**

_I'm in the business of misery,_

_Let's take it from the top;_

_She's got a body like an hourglass that's ticking like a clock._

Sakura slammed both her hands over her ears. The ice was so smooth it created an echo, effectively multiplying the princess's screams by a multitude. Kakashi looked as if he was in pain, his eyes narrowing like blinds with each octave her screams pitched. Kazuko was sweating bullets; a waterfall seemed to drip from his forehead.

"Kazuko," She hollered, voice mimicking that of a monster. "_Where. Is. My. Hairbrush?_" Sakura could pick out, even with her palms tight against her ears, which room was the princess's. The ice walls shook with the sheer force of the girl's voice. It made Sakura's anger seem like a chipmunk frolicking in the forest.

Shakily, the boy asked, "the one from Hikaru-Hime?"

"THAT'S THE ONLY ONE THERE IS!" She shrieked yet again. When she swept out of her room, sky blue robes whipping around her and dragging on the ground, Sakura's eyes met with hers; she noticed the quick once-over she gave Kakashi. Immediately, her pout was replaced by a warm smile that could have melted the castle walls. "You're the guards!" Quickly and daintily, she stepped down the stairs, pulling her skirts up. "It's so nice to meet you! I'm Natsuko, but everybody calls me Yuki, short for Yukihime."

Sakura smiled back, reaching out to shake her hand, but she was ignored. The Princess grabbed Kakashi's hand instead, just holding it reverently. "I know all about you!" The Copy Ninja's eye creased. Sakura scowled at him. "I've heard people talking about you all the time!"

"Really now? I hope it's all good things," He joked. The Princess nodded eagerly; did Kakashi just _blush_? Sakura shook her head slowly, looking to the heavens. So much for modesty.

"And aren't you training under the Hidden Leaf Hokage?" Yukihime awed, her mouth widening just a bit. "You must be amazing, too. Is that why you're here with him?" She pointed at the silver-haired nin, her eyes wide and bright and curious.

"Oh, _no_," Sakura laughed, grinning. Kakashi smiled widely, or at least it seemed so. "He's here with me." His grin dropped as fast as it had formed; he glared hard at the medic, who gazed innocently at Yuki.

"Wow," she breathed. "You must be incredible."

"Oh, well, I wouldn't say that," Sakura replied humbly, fanning her hand across her face, a blush dusting the bridge of her nose. "I'm still a novice, after all," Kakashi snorted, and his partner dug a sharp elbow into his ribcage. He coughed. Suddenly, Sakura remembered the point of this mission. She took Kakashi's hand. "Coughing is a sign of a cold, _Kashi-kun_," there was a smug and mocking lilt to her voice.

Kakashi flinched, but he hid it well. Her hand was warm, almost as if she hadn't been trekking out in the snow for 20 minutes or so. They were soft but not entirely free of calluses. They were so small... What was Sakura doing? He looked at her from the corner of his eyes. She was staring at her.

Hiding a superior smirk, she dragged her eyes back to the Princess. "But there are some things I don't know, so I'm training under him for the time being." She inhaled, cheeks burning red. Her grip seemed to tightened. "Actually, we're engaged,"

_Oh, right_, Kakashi thought, his head spinning. Engaged. He nodded in agreement.

"Oh, gosh, how rude of me," Yuki gasped, purple eyes glittering. "Congratulations!" She raised a long sleeve to her mouth, glancing at the large clock adorning the main entrance wall. Its short hand was two times as tall as Kakashi and it took up the entire side. It could be easily seen from any floor and any room. "You must be starving! Dinner is being served just right now, let's go!" And so she glided forward, leading them, her navy blue hair swaying left and right every step she took. She had a petite frame, small and straight, somewhat boyish compared to Sakura's, which was rather smooth and curved, but it made her look delicate and beautiful. Compared to Sakura, she was a little girl, but what she lacked in figure she made up for in looks. Sakura couldn't help but feel a little jealous. When she stopped at the double doors, so did her waist length locks. Wisps of her dark lavender hair stuck to her mouth. "I hope it suits your tastes," And when she opened the door, Sakura leaned back at the sight, gaping at the ballroom dining hall. Kakashi stood behind her, equally in awe but more reserved with his reaction.

"Do you always eat in here?" Sakura swallowed, her mouth watering. _The dessert table has anko dumplings_, she groaned, inching forward. She'd have to save some room for later. She passed by all kinds of food; fish that had been fried, grilled, steamed, or cooked in a soup. Rice that had been steamed with peas, bean rice that had been boiled, brown rice with vegetables fried in it, even porridge. All of Japan's most expensive and delicious delicacies were laid out in front of her, calling her name, waiting to be chewed and digested. Sakura wanted to cry. There was no way she could eat everything.

Kakashi however, pulled an apple out of his bag and sank his teeth into it. "You're crazy," Sakura deadpanned, staring rudely. Kakashi's eye folded from behind his book.

"You're not going to eat, Kakashi-sama?" Yuki said worriedly, seating herself elegantly across from him. "Are you not use to the food? We can cook you something else! What do you eat in Konoha?"

"No, I'm just not hungry," he said politely, waving his book in the air slightly. "It's been a long day. Oh, and you can just call me Kakashi, no need for any honorifics."

Sakura was busy inhaling her food. Halfway through, Kakashi put down his book and said, "I've got to use the bathroom," and he left. Sakura's eyes followed his form; he'd brought his knapsack. Going to the bathroom obviously wasn't on his mind. When she turned back, Yukihime was staring at her pensively. Sakura flushed under her pointed stare.

"You're engaged to him?" She asked conversationally, picking up a pea with her chopsticks.

"Yeah, it was announced just a few weeks ago."

"It was arranged?"

Sakura hesitated, shifting uneasily in her seat. "Yeah, but we're happy, you know?" She smiled pleasantly. The princess smiled back after a beat. The grand room was unnervingly quiet, and Sakura attempted small-talk. "I like your name. Doesn't Natsuko mean summer born? That's kind of ironic, because you're the princess of Snow and people call you Yuki and Yukihime, but you're actually Natsuko." She rambled, giggling nervously and setting her chopsticks across her bowl. She was bloated.

The princess teehee-d, covering her mouth. "I don't know what my parents were thinking." She chewed in a seemingly thoughtful way. "I like your kimono. A susohiki, isn't it?" Sakura nodded, looking pleased. "Are you training as a geisha? You're very pretty," the nin being addressed flared bright red and shook her head hastily.

"Oh, nonono. My shishou gave it to me. It was from her... geisha friend," Sakura guessed. "And I'm pretty sure you could blow any guy away with your beauty," As if to prove a point, the medic-nin's gaze lingered over the Princess's pale skin and dark hair.

She smiled modestly, shaking her head. "But it suits you so well! I'd always supposed Konoha people had good taste," Yuki put a hand to her chin, nodding her head and making noises of approval.

"I'm sure Snow does, too– it's so beautiful here, after all!" Something in Yukihime's eyes darkened.

"You'd be surprised. The country is filled with thugs and prostitutes. We can't get rid of them however hard we try. Our country is a good country, but we have our problems. Too many for such a nice place,"

Sakura didn't reply; she didn't know how to. Instead, she just sat back onto the plush dining chair, sipping on her 5th ("I'll be fine," Sakura said to herself as she watched the ruby red liquid slide down the crystal glass.) glass of wine, feeling awkward and waiting for Kakashi to come back– but he didn't. Not for 1 minute, not for 5, and not for 10. Eventually, Yuki stood up.

"It's getting late, you should go to bed, follow me," She walked, smooth as ever, opening the door graciously for her guest. Sakura bowed and thanked her for the food and hospitality. "It's no problem," Yuki responded, looking delighted as ever. "Kazuko showed you to your room, I'm sure?" Sakura nodded. "I hate to leave you, but I have something to do. I'll see you tomorrow, though! Good night," her voice trailed off as she disappeared around the corner.

"G'night!" Sakura called back, slipping into the corridor two rooms away from her own. Her fingers pressed against the icy tiles. It was a tight squeeze, but she could fit. The feeling of stone was cold against her back, making her shiver even through all the layers of her kimono. Teeth chattering and knees against the wall, she popped out in a dark room, lit by torches. The nin kept quiet, making sure her feet made no sound. Gradually, the hall got darker and darker; suddenly, she hit a hard surface. Feeling around, she touched the round, cold metal of a door knob. She yanked it open. Dust dispersed from the other side, settling onto who knew what. She rubbed her eyes; it was a library.

Sakura spent what must have been 20 minutes looking for an exit. She swore she had circled the entire place at least 5 times, and by the time she finally made it out, Sakura had memorized the entire topography of the library. Where was she now? Maybe on the 5th floor, seeing as how high from the ground she was when she looked over the stair railing. It was probably time to go back. She raced down the stairs, stopping abruptly on the 3rd floor when she heard voices. She breathed slowly through her mouth, ducking behind a statue to listen.

"I _told _you multiple times to leave me alone!" A female voice hissed. It sounded like the princess's, coincidentally.

"I can't," a male replied, sighing. "You don't know how much I wish I could. I want to be with you as much as you want to be with me," the girl grumbled. "but my parents, your parents... It's arranged. What can I do about it?"

"Just leave me alone," she spat, rushing away. She went downstairs, and the male sighed heavily again. Sakura's heart banged against her chest. He was coming up and there was nowhere to hide. Looking as innocent as possible, she smoothed out her kimono, taking her first step down the stairs. When the young male hurried to the stairs, she mimicked surprise. He stopped, masking his own shock with cheerfulness.

"I haven't seen you around before," He smiled. Sakura bit her bottom lip; honestly, he wasn't so bad-looking. His eyes were as lively and blue as Naruto's and his hair was a nutty colour, warm and rich and hazel. It was swept to one side, as if the wind had blown it in a single direction. He had an easy smile; had a stranger crossed paths with him, they'd have no idea he'd just had a row with his fiancee. In fact, he reminded her amazingly of Kakashi, except with tame hair that lay flat. All in all, easy to look at and a good first impression, Sakura thought. _An no Icha Icha in his hands_.

"How do you know? Maybe I'm a maid," Sakura replied flippantly but beaming. She hoped her smile was as nice as his. Wait. What was she _thinking_?

"I'm pretty sure I'd remember a face like yours," he winked, then rushed up the stairs, taking a left and turning into a wide hallway. Sakura's entire body felt hot. What had just happened? Without letting herself think about it, she traipsed down the steps, entering her room.

Minutes later, Kakashi entered silently, true to his ninja ways. Sakura hadn't noticed him, still swept up in a daze until he greeted her with a short and amiable, "Yo."

"Hi," Sakura groaned, turning onto her stomach so her face met the pillow. Her head spun. Maybe the alcohol was finally taking it's toll on her. _Great. _This was going to be a long mission.

**

* * *

**

He'd found nothing, much to his chagrin.

Thankfully, he had the entire building figured out after the 2nd floor, no doubt because of his sheer genius. The whole layout was symmetrical. Easy for an entire army of ninja to ambush; the architect most likely hadn't been thinking. Or maybe there was something more? He couldn't be bothered to think about it right now. When he'd gotten to the 7th floor, it had been dark, dank, and cold. There was one particular room that he wanted to go back to... It'd felt like something important had been there. But he'd leave it for another day, choosing instead to go back to the room he shared with Sakura. A wise choice– Kazuko had been making rounds. He had just barely slid by, shimmying (How embarrassing. Thank God nobody had seen him.) into a tiny hallway and taking a 'short'cut. By the time he had gotten out, he was sweating from the lack of clean air. Obviously nobody had bothered to dust the place out for a while.

Oddly enough, an hour or so after he had left the dining room to search the castle, he'd bumped into none other than the princess herself. When she'd seen him walking around the corner, her face washed into an amicable smile. The change was dramatic from the almost demonic look she'd previously been nursing.

"Kakashi!" She had said excitedly. Her eyes were twinkling, the purple of her irises seemed lighter.

He'd said the first thing that came to mind: "I got lost," Well, at least it was plausible. Stupid, but believable. Yuki giggled girlishly, smiling in an unsettling way at him.

"That's ok, it's a big castle and you're a small ninja," (Kakashi chose to ignore that comment. He was _not _small. Anywhere, thank you very much.) Cooing, she tugged on his arm lightly and bit her bottom lip. "I can show you around," her voice was gentle, but there was a shade of teasing. And maybe a little of something else that he didn't really feel comfortable about.

"That's ok, I'll probably just figure everything out by myself tomorrow," he faked a yawn, stretching towards the sky. Yuki looked disappointed, her mouth forming into a stubborn pout.

"I insist," And without waiting for a reply, she grabbed his sleeve, pulling him upstairs. They went down a brightly lit hallway, past the library he'd just been in. The room she stopped at was huge– nearly as big as the dining hall. His face remained neutral; any show of emotion would be unprofessional. The princess turned, staring up at him with wide, doe eyes and saying zealously, "this is my room,"

"Well. It's nice," he said sheepishly; rather ostentatious, but it really was. She had a king-sized, four-poster bed in the center. The walls were a light blue, and her furniture had a matching color scheme. Back in Konoha, he had a beige couch and a mattress, that was it. If he was lucky, maybe a sandwich lying around in the living room. Not saying that he wasn't clean, sometimes he just didn't have time to keep it pristine 24/7.

"I'm glad you think so. Would you like to sit?" She pointed to her bed, all too innocently.

"Actually, I should probably get back to my _fiancee_," he emphasized the last word, returning her innocent look. Something in Yuki's eyes lit up fiercely.

"Right, your fiancee. I almost forgot. You should go. Tell her I said good night!" She said glibly, following him out the door. He could feel her eyes burning into his retreating figure. This didn't seem good.

And it only got worse.

**

* * *

**

She was kind of warm. Sakura swept her hair out of her eyes and pressed the back of her hand to her forehead. Well, it wasn't hot– _Woah._ Was the room _spinning_? She giggled, sitting up. She stretched, her fingers seeming to just barely scratch the surface of the ceiling. When had the room gotten so small? Did that even matter?

"Sakura?" A voice said hazily beside her. "It's 2 in the morning." That would be Kakashi, she placed, running a hand through her hair.

"Really? Are you sure?"

"Are you drunk?"

"Do I _sound_ drunk?" Sakura scoffed, rolling her eyes.

"You do, actually,"

"Funny, I don't feel drunk," She inhaled deeply, leaning back against her hands. They sunk into the mattress, and she wobbled before steadying herself. "Are the walls spinning?"

"You're drunk," Kakashi deadpanned, expression incredibly blank. She really didn't like that look.

"Loosen up, Kakashi," She sighed, and by some odd instinct, swung a leg over him so that she hovered above him. She was on her knees with her hands on either side of his head.

Kakashi blinked. "I can smell the alcohol on your breath. Red wine. Classy, but you've had too much,"

"I know what I had, Kakashi, and I know how much I've had. 5 glasses isn't that much. They were only filled a third of the way; that's how classy people take their wine," she winked, smirking. It was Kakashi's turn to exhale. His breath fanned out against her, and her mind spun faster. "Don't _do_ that," Sakura hissed, shaking her head and pushing herself up into a sitting position. The tips of her hair brushed against Kakashi's cheeks before falling into place around Sakura. Oranges. She smelled like oranges.

From a certain angle, Sakura looked almost exactly like Rin, minus the brown eyes. In fact, maybe it was Sakura's green eyes that made her just that much more attractive. But if he really did like her (He did recognize the emotion, after all.), it was most likely for her resemblance to his old teammate, nothing more. And if he knew any better, the only reason why Sakura would ever be remotely interested in him was because he resembled Sasuke (Actually, he _thoroughly_ disagreed with that; he didn't understand why everybody thought that.). With that thought, he sat up, pushing Sakura away.

"If you were sane right now–"

"I'm sane." She emitted a long string of high-strung giggles. Highly-believable.

"If you were sane right now," Kakashi continued, tone biting, "you wouldn't be doing _that_ right now." He knocked Sakura's steadily creeping hands away from the hem of his wifebeater, getting up from the bed. "I'm sleeping on the couch," Dragging the pillow and his comforter, he sat onto the couch. It sagged under his weight but made no sound.

"You don't have to, I'll take the couch."

"No, I can't do that–"

"With you." Sakura laughed uproariously, falling onto her back. Her laughter sounded like wind chimes banging against each other in a storm. Kakashi planted a face into the palm of his hand, praying for patience, something he (thankfully.) had a lot of.

"Sakura, you won't get anything out of it if you ever slept with me," Although it was a nice thought. Wait. What?

"Yeah, right." Sakura said sleepily, rolling onto her side. Her shorts rode up. "Not like I'll remember anything tomorrow morning, but just so you know, you're pretty cute with your mask off."

Kakashi jerked his hand to his mouth, feeling for the cloth. Nothing. He swore.

**

* * *

**

The one night he left his mask by the sink. The _one_ night. When he'd still been getting used to the mask (Which was what, 20 years ago?) it had been a normal occurrence (_"You forgot your mask today, Kakashi!_" His classmates would chortle.). But now at his age– not that he was old– and his experience, _honestly_? He tossed and turned; the couch was comfortable, his thoughts... not so.

He replayed what she said over and over again, grinding his teeth at the frustration. What she'd said bothered him more than he'd like to admit– but he didn't know why, or what it was. He stopped at each word, waiting to see if his irritation would peak at any of the syllables.

_You're pretty cute_– oh _hell _no. Nooo way.

_Cute_? Kakashi steamed, glaring at the ceiling. _Cute_? She was joking. Hatake Kakashi was not _cute_. He didn't do cute. The lowest he'd go was attractive, and he _knew_ he was attractive. He'd found that out years ago when he was 13 and girls were falling left and right, up and down for him. In fact, he'd used his charm to get free treats from a majority of the female vendors. One had given him his first _Icha Icha _novel.

And why was he so worked up about it anyways? It's not like what Sakura thought mattered at all. He shouldn't care. He _didn't _care.

_Lies. Yes you do_.

No, he didn't give one at all. In fact, Sakura seeing him with his mask off was far more an urgent matter than she calling him cute; still, there was a flare of pride when he'd picked out the mellow, impressed tone she gave away.

He didn't sleep that night. Especially not with the smell of her still drifting through his mind.

**

* * *

**

"Today we're escorting the Princess out, aren't we?" Sakura questioned, snapping the buckle on her sandal. Then she looked up, leaning her arm against her thigh and holding her head up.

"It'll be warm," Kakashi nodded, tying his hitae-ate into place. He noticed her gaze lingering on his masked mouth and turned away. "Here, I found these in the closet," he tossed a thick white yukata to her. A warm, spring-green, cotton scarf was folded on top. "Just wear it over, we don't have time," and without saying anything else, he swung open the door, letting himself out.

He didn't eat much ("Are you ok?" Yuki fretted, eyes wide. "Perfect," Kakashi replied, shoving a forkful of eggs into his mouth. Yuki smiled.); he preferred working on an empty stomach. He was always more alert, whereas eating made him drowsy. Apparently, Sakura felt the same; she lunged into the room, out of breath, grabbed a roll, and pocketed it.

"Let's go!" And she was out again, hair flying back. Yuki exchanged a glance with Kakashi, shrugged, and pushed her porridge aside. They lagged behind her, content with the company of each other. Yuki followed the flashes of bright pink, Kakashi followed the smell of citrus. When Sakura burst through the grand hall doors, she inhaled deeply, smiling, hands behind her head. "It's so nice out!" Her eyes sparkled, accented by the bright scarf.

"Yuki?" Every head turned, save for the Princess. An irritated expression dawned on the girl's face. It was her fiancee. "You're going out?" His voice was good-natured and curious.

"Is that any of your business?" She snapped back, the umbrella she had over her shoulder swishing as she turned around sharply. "I don't see why you have the need to follow me around," Sakura's eyebrows furrowed subtly, but Kakashi noticed nevertheless.

"I need to buy some things,"

"Well don't expect _me_ to buy them like I'm a maid of yours or something."

"That's not what I was implying," His voice took on a cold edge.

"Then what, pray tell, did you really mean?"

"I'd intended to go out with you," the Princess opened her mouth to protest, "_all_." He finished, and then she closed her gaping mouth, face burning. It'd be unfair of her to deny him that right.

Grudgingly, she replied, "Well then, stay away from me," she scowled, turning her back to him and waiting stiffly by Kakashi.

"That won't be a problem, I'm sure," he replied smoothly, calm. He leapt forward and hooked his arm through Sakura's, smiling at her. "I don't believe I introduced myself properly last night," Sakura flushed, eyes the size of shurikens. "I'm Harue Huyu, and you are?"

"Sakura," she spluttered. Kakashi wasn't sure if it was the irony of his name and hers or because she really was flustered. Her voice was dry and she cleared it, "Haruno Sakura."

"Haruno Sakura! That's fitting in this setting," and he laughed. Sakura laughed along nervously, leaning back a little, looking somewhat afraid. For some reason, that gave Kakashi a perverse pleasure.

"Harue... Huyu?" Sakura tried, eyebrows furrowed. "Isn't that a bit of a contradiction?"

"Maybe, maybe not, depending on how you look at it," He said conversationally, walking down the street with her, stopping at a vendor every minute or so. "In Japanese it means 'a spring born from winter,' you could say. But in english, it's 'a winter born of spring.'" He picked up a cherry blossom, flipped a coin onto the stand, and tucked it into Sakura's hair. "You're quite the beauty."

_That was so cliché_, Kakashi grumbled in his head. Sakura was red from neck to forehead, matching the flora nicely, but she wasn't looking so frightened anymore.

"Kakashi?"

Kakashi looked up from his 'novel,' meeting eye-to-eye with his bodyguard-ee. "What do you think of this?" She held up a... loincloth? No. A robe. A _very short_ purple robe, which would probably look nice on Sakura, but not on– he _really_ needed to stop thinking about Sakura.

"It's... alright," feeling that his explanation would suffice and returning to his porn– err, book.

"Kakashi!" Sakura waved for him. Sighing, he kicked off from the post he'd been leaning back on, walking towards her sluggishly. He hadn't slept all night. Sakura held up a kimono. It had white trim, but the blue cloth was so dark it bordered on black. "This," she flipped it around, revealing a crow that was rising– or flying?– from ashes (_Ironic_, Kakashi thought. _Or maybe just an misprint_.), "Would look good on you," she beamed from ear to ear. Well, it _was_ kind of spiffy... And it matched the majority of his wardrobe...

There was a snort, cleverly hidden by a cough. Kakashi heard Yuki say, "It's rather dark. Too dark, in my opinion."

Sakura haha-ed, completely missing the derogatory tone of Yuki's voice and pressing a hand into her stomach. "Kakashi's a dark person."

"Really?" Yuki asked, looking to Kakashi with wide eyes. Curiosity lit up the light purple.

"Not really," he said pleasantly, flipping a page. "I'm just engaged to a tasteless female." Sakura's eyes narrowed, and she lifted a brow.

"You know what? Screw you! I'll wear it." So saying, she slammed a wad of bills onto the counter, startling the salesman. He returned her wide, borderline-vicious smile with a shaky one of his own. Huyu laughed, pressing his own bills to the table and returning Sakura's to her, who thanked him graciously. "Maybe I should give this to you," she pondered, holding it up to the light.

"It's kind of dark for my taste," he chuckled, rubbing the fabric between his fingers.

"As far as I know, the only person who wears this dark of a colour is Kakashi. After I graduated from the academy, I was training under him, and he'd sit out under the sun in his Genin vests and–" Kakashi grabbed her upper arm, squeezing. Sakura caught herself, inhaling sharply and looking around. "And, uh, play pretend with me. I have a fondness for that game. Pretend, you know? I'd pretend I was training under him after I had graduated and that we fell in love and then I would get married to him! And now look where we are! Hahahahahaha!..." Kakashi was glaring at her. Suddenly, the sun seemed to be directing all it's heat onto her, and she bowed her head. _Man_, it was _hot_... right?

Huyu stared at her. Sakura shifted uncomfortably, avoiding his gaze. He knew. He knew she was lying.

"That's odd," Huyu said pensively. Sakura wanted to wail, _I swear, we're not here to steal anything of yours!_ "I really liked playing pretend, too."

"I _swear_, we're not trying t– what?"

"I use to play pretend with my brothers everyday. And Yuki. I'd play with my brothers and Yuki. My oldest brother, Shisui, was always the king, and I would be his son, sent to slay the dragon, who was my other brother. I'd always end up marrying the Princess."

"Oh! Well– I mean– That's great! That's awesome! That's fantastic! And you guys are getting married now!" Her voice was high and reedy, and she was so relieved. The feeling inside her right now was exactly the same as the feeling she got from peeing after she had held it in for hours. However, her guard shot back up when his face darkened.

"Yeah, but I guess it's all just a game of pretend in the end." His voice was low, contemptuous.

"I'm sorry, I don't understand?" But she was sure she did. It was just too obvious.

"Yes you do," his heated eyes met hers. "You've seen us." There was a knowing glint in the depthless blue.

"I– I'm sorry," the pinkette replied softly, her eyes unable to meet his. They darted everywhere, refusing to meet his.

"Nah, you don't have to be," he juggled an apple in the air, handing the vendor a shiny, silver coin. "It was arranged. Well, it was, technically. We've been trying for years to unite these two kingdoms. Yuki was in love with my older brother, the oldest brother of the 4 of us, actually. But he didn't like her. He was in love with the daughter of the King of the Sea Country. My father assumed that since, in our games, we always married each other and because we were the closest in age, we were a match made in heaven." He chortled darkly. "My poor father. Yuki has always hated me. She would only marry me because Takuto told her to. She would always do anything for him."

"Why didn't your father marry one of your other brothers to her?" Sakura asked in curiosity, cocking her head. His expression softened.

"My youngest brother died in a war a few years ago. The other two are lost at the moment. One of them was supposed to marry the Princess of the Bird Country." He looked to the sky, as if searching for something. Sakura stared, mouth open.

"Wow, that sucks," she breathed, looking at her feet. A puff of vapor left her mouth with the words. The pebbles rolled underneath her sandals, and with every step, she kicked up gritty dirt. A horse cantered by, sending up a cloud of grime. The market was suddenly very quiet and the sun didn't seem to be shining quite as brightly. Photos of her parents flashed through her mind like a slideshow. A sigh caught in her throat.

"I didn't mean to depress you," Huyu took her hand, cheering up. "I never knew my brothers much! We've gotta catch up," and he sprinted ahead, Sakura in tow. She stumbled over other passerbys, hurling out apologies by the second. Some looked in amusement, others in disdain. Soon, the gloomy cloud that had been hovering over her disappeared, and when they finally stopped a few feet short of Kakashi and Yuki, they were both out of breath, panting but laughing hysterically.

"Sakura?" Quickly, Huyu released her hand, entering the cart of a bookseller, looking intently at the stand of novellas. Sakura stood angelically, hands behind her back. "Where've you been?"

"What're you talking about? I've been right behind you this whole time," she replied breathlessly. Kakashi watched as her chest rose and fell rapidly. He cast her a disbelieving look.

"Right." Disgruntled, he turned away. Yuki was looking at him crossly.

"You look angry,"

Immediately, Kakashi felt his shoulders tense. Was it that noticeable? Wait. That would be admitting that he was angry, and he wasn't angry.

"Is the world spinning out of course yet?"

Yuki looked confused. "No?"

"Then I'm not angry." Kakashi's eye-creased, and Yuki laughed.

"Gosh, what I'd give to see under that mask," she smiled wanly, looking at him through her eyelashes. "You're quite the mystery, aren't you? Why not take off your mask?" It was a demand, he could tell, hidden well underneath the intonation of a question.

"Kakashi?" Sakura interjected. She faked a confused expression, but he really knew she was amused underneath it all. "He hasn't shown anybody what's underneath his mask," She hesitated. "Except me." Turning slightly, she smirked at him with her eyes. He cursed her. "'Underneath the underneath' and all that good stuff," she sing-songed. "But I'm sure you won't want to see it. He's horribly disfigured," Her ex-sensei could practically see her choking back her laughter.

Yuki looked disbelieving. "It's humanly impossible to wear a mask your whole life." Sigh.

"Sakura, why don't you come in here and take a look with me?" Kakashi beckoned to her, waving to a bookstore. He laughed mentally when he saw the immediate look of caution on her face. Her ears seemed to prick.

"Nah, it's probably cold in there, I'll stay out and look after Yuki," Her voice was calm, cool, and chipper. Her eyes were not. Panic flickered through them like a candle's fire.

"No, I insist. Huyu, could you look after Yuki for just a minute" Kakashi smiled his signature... eye-crease before disappearing behind the veil.

Sakura gulped, taking her time up the stairs and through the curtains. _Crap_, _I picked today of all days to play with fire_. _See you in a little bit, Mommy, Daddy_. As soon as she stepped in, she was grabbed by a strong hand and dragged through aisle after aisle.

_Powerful Ninjas of the Era, Jutsus for Dummies, the Dictionary of Jutsus, the Medic's Guide to the Impossible_ (Hey, I have that book! Sakura thought fleetingly.); title after title blurred past her as she was lugged thuggishly into a secluded aisle. It was almost convenient, what with the bookshelf behind her and to either side of her. In fact, they fit perfectly, even when Kakashi slammed both his hands around her. She flinched. She pressed into the books behind her, looking for purchase. Her hands fumbled against the spines.

"Tell me what you're trying to do." He growled, narrowing his eyes at her. She felt like a mouse trapped in a corner.

"We're married, aren't we? I'm just trying to provide basic evidence."

"Basic evidence my ass. You've just spent the last 30 minutes holding hands with _her_ fiance, you think she's going to believe that we're getting married?"

Her voice tread the tightrope between whining and reasoning, "I wasn't holding hands with him, and it's not like she saw–"

"You're the worst liar I've ever met. It was kind of hard _not_ to notice,"

Immediately, Sakura's eyes hardened, and she snarled through her clenched jaw, "Well, it's not like she cares. If you don't know, they were forced together. She hates him, she's actually in love with Huyu's brother. Now, tell me, _Hatake_, what have you learned about _Yuki_?" Her eyes pierced his, smoldering. "D'you think I'm fooling around with him? Are you wondering what exactly I did with him last night? Don't worry, I can use him to our benefit, did you ever think of that? The closer I get to him, the closer we get to that scroll."

"In fact," Sakura continued when Kakashi said nothing, "I'd say Yuki is actually in love with _you_. Or are you too blind to notice? C'mon Kakashi, get your game on," she mocked, "If I knew any better, she looks at you the same way you looked. at. me. Last. Night." She punctuated the last 5 words, wetting her dry lips when she finished.

Something in Kakashi snapped and he pushed her up against the shelves. She winced at the pain of the shelves digging into her back. "What were you two up to?"

"That's really gentlemanly of you, asking for the details,"

"Sakura..." The timbre of his voice was low, threatening.

"Like I'd ever tell you, Sensei," she spat, struggling against his grip. He let her go, and she crumpled against the shelf, breathing raggedly. Kakashi stepped back, making his way out. "Why do you care so much anyways? Jealous?" Sakura laughed without humor.

"I don't get jealous," Kakashi replied stonily without looking back.

"You're the worst liar I've ever met."

**

* * *

**

For the rest of the day, Sakura said nothing to Kakashi and vice versa. In fact, they didn't even look at each other. Yuki and Huyu both noticed, but said nothing about it. In fact, they seemed to enjoy the 'lover's' feud. Huyu had Sakura's undivided attention, and so did Yuki... somewhat.

When the sun was beginning to set, washing the entire scene with oranges and yellows and pinks, they headed back. Kakashi's head throbbed at Sakura's too-loud-laughs and the exaggerated way she threw her head back every time. He honestly didn't mind when she was laughing, and the way she tossed her head was kind of cute– _amusing_, he corrected– but not when it was for Huyu. His blood boiled.

He was acting like such a teenager.

Shaking his head, he trudged along with Yuki in tow. She chattered on, something about birds. Occasionally, he murmured his agreement or made a sound of interest, but otherwise, he wasn't paying attention to her mindless droning. He was too busy staring at the way his pink-haired teammate's mouth moved, the way she bit her bottom lip– something in the back of his mind triggered. Memories of Rin flooded his mind, especially during the after-effects of the war, after Obito had died, after his emotions had gone haywire, after he'd lost all sense of morality. Makeout sessions gone a little too far; _experiments_, he'd lied to her. _Don't worry about it_. And she'd obeyed, because she had liked– loved, she'd whimpered when he'd left her the next morning, momentarily blinded and holding back tears– him. And he knew it.

_Lust_.

An alarm went off in his head. Oh God, he was fucked over.

"Kakashi, if you don't get your head out of the clouds, you're going to run right into the doors," Sakura said smugly, walking past him.

He ignored her jibe, dodging the swing as the entrance opened. They ambled into the dining room, which was once again piled high with foods. It smelled delicious, but in all honestly, it wasn't a good idea to eat anything. Especially with the way the Princess had been looking at him earlier today and last night. _Especially _with the way the Princess was looking at him _right now–_

_Wait. What? _He would recognize that smell anywhere...

"Is that miso soup with eggplant?" Sakura asked, head cocked in innocent curiosity. Steam rose from the black pot profusely. There were two cauldrons of it; one with a small fire underneath it to keep it warm and another that was cooling.

"Yup," Huyu answered, grabbing the ladle and spooning a bowl for the medic. He passed it to her, and she received it eagerly.

"It smells amazing," she inhaled, a smile gracing her face. Her eyes closed in bliss. Kakashi stared; Sakura noticed. His eyes seemed to be burning a hole into the porcelain bowls. "Would you like a bowl?" She suggested tentatively, slowly handing her soup to him. There was something almost possessive about his stare. There eyes met.

"Thanks," he said coolly, taking the bowl.

Sakura grabbed her yukata and pulled it to the side so she could sit. Only a second passed before she realized she'd forgotten something. "Oh, I have to get you a spooooonever... mind?" Her eyes followed the Kakashi as he placed the bowl back onto the table and wiped his mouth with his arm, exhaling in a satisfied way.

"I'm full," And then he got up and left the table. _Kakashi may be a genius, but he's somewhat lacking in the ettiquette department_, Sakura made note. The carved oak doors closed with a quiet click. When Sakura turned back around, Huyu was holding out a certain, distinctive novel to her and Yuki had a nondescript smile on her face.

"Uh, thanks," she murmured, taking the book and slipping it into a pocket before returning to the main course. The small-talk was idle; not uncomfortable, just slow. Eventually, after a small dessert (two plates of dango and strawberries and cream.), Sakura pushed herself from the table and excused herself.

Traipsing up the stairs, she mulled over how _slow_ the mission was progressing. Kakashi had told her he thought he might have found the room the scroll was hidden in, but otherwise, they have made no advances whatsoever. They had 3 months to find the scroll. Three months to figure out Snow's plans.

Three months stuck with Kakashi.

She groaned, running her hand through her hair and stopping at the door to their room. What was she supposed to do to quicken the process? Thankfully, neither Yuki nor Huyu seemed to mind the suspicious distance between Sakura and Kakashi. _They're probably grateful, in fact_. She reached out to open the door, stopping when she heard voices.

"You don't seem that close to each other," a female's voice accused. Something in the tone was off. So smug and seductive. "What's really going on between you two?" There was a slight shuffling, a sharp intake of breath. A protest from an unmistakable voice.

The blood left Sakura's face like a waterfall. They weren't doing _that_, were they? And not in her _room_, right? Her mind reeled. _Oh my Hokage. That's juts disgusting!_ When she rammed the door open, two pairs of surprised eyes turned to meet hers. The Princess flushed and leaped away from Kakashi, smoothing her hair and snapping her thighs together, as if that would save face. Sakura's face threatened to turn the same shade of green as her face. She tried desperately to rid the image of Yuki straddling her ex-sensei. Gulping, she turned to the Princess.

"I'm sorry I walked in on that?" Her voice reaching intervals she never knew she could hit before.

"No, you didn't walk in on anything, really. I was testing something," As an afterthought, she added, "the walls are soundproof." Shooting Sakura a suggestive look (That wasn't all too friendly.), she left the room, tightening the sash to her dress and pulling up the sleeves that had fallen off her shoulders.

Kakashi leaned back on his elbows, observing Sakura. Her face was flushed, rivaling her hair in colour. "I didn't do anything with her."

"I didn't ask," Sakura replied flatly, sitting at the end of the bed, bent over to unbuckle the straps of her shoes.

"If it makes you feel any better," he slurred, "she's only an A cup."

Her entire face set fire. "I- I don't care. What does that have to do with anything?" Completely neglecting the way his words connected to each other. Where one word ended, another began. She got up to go to the bathroom, but Kakashi stopped her. He swayed lightly behind her. Sakura stiffened. The way his breath fanned across her ear dried her throat. She swallowed. His hands skimmed her sides, tracing her curves, and stopped at the edges of her breasts. The nin seemed contemplative, perplexed, almost. "K-Kakashi?" Something heavy oozed into her stomach; warmth seemed to course through her, melting at her thighs.

"I don't know. Maybe it's just cause you're a nice C," he murmured, squeezing them just enough for her breathing to hitch before passing out.


	5. Chapter 5

a/n: I am so in love with the ending of the last chapter~ -siiiiigh- I couldn't stop thinking about writing this chapter since last night and now this morning. Oh, and I've been rewatching Naruto. I FINALLY GOT TO THE ACTION... aka Zabuza and Haku, LOL. Actually, not really... They JUST started the mission... And I only watch the episodes when I'm running on the treadmill. But still, no more intro episodes! Naruto is so adorable...

I freaked myself out while writing one part of this chapter. And thanks to these last two chapters, I know more about kimonos than I'll ever need to know... Hahaha~!

So. I have a guilty confession. I'm in love with reviews. Omg, that makes me so Frustrated! T.T I don't want to write just for reviews because I _like_ to write (Plus, I hate asking for them.), but everytime I get a review, I feel like a maniac because of how piss-happy I get! It's so weird.

*After writing this chapter, it's official: I can no longer spell. -depressed sigh- Oh, and I think I might just start adding notes to the bottom, too. I can't spoil everything! ;P

**The Middle**

_It just takes some time,  
little girl, you're in the middle of the ride.  
Everything, everything will be just fine,  
Everything, everything will be alright. (alright)_

He'd woken with a start, gulping in breath after breath. It wasn't really a nightmare he'd experienced; more of an overload of senses. He'd remembered faintly the onslaught of noises and the image of a slow turning carousel. Everything had been so thick and sluggish, reminding him all too much of lava. Maybe that would explain the torturous thudding in his cranium that so much resembled his heartbeat.

As a result of the closed curtains (Thank the Hokage. He was pretty sure he was having a hangover, God knows from what, but light wouldn't help it any.), the room was dimly lit. A single stream of light from the crevice where the two curtain met slid across the room, neatly bisecting it.

Ignoring the thunder in his head, Kakashi lifted himself from his spread-eagle position. Looking around for his obviously missing teammate, he came to the conclusion that she was gone.

No shit, Sherlock.

Last night had been a blur (Those words sounded far too familiar to him.); normally, he wasn't _too_ crass when he was drunk– in fact, he liked to say he had quite a lot of class when he was inebriated– but his gut told him he hadn't exactly been drunk. If anything, he remembered a girl with pin-straight lavender hair– no doubt the Princess– asking him how he felt before pushing him onto the bed and climbing on top of him. _Cute_, he'd thought, _if you didn't look like such a kid. _

Shaking the off-topic thought from his head (The vigorous motion had him wincing.), he stretched, yawning. Turning to examine whatever it was that his hand had hit, he saw a small glass bottle. There was a note under it, written in slanted, loopy letters.

For your hangover (?)

She'd signed it with her name and a little smiling flower to the side. The smell of ink was anything but fresh, meaning that she had written this letter a while ago. She must have witnessed some after effect of his _charming_ lack of sobriety. Kakashi scowled; he was dying to know if he'd done anything. He finished the concoction in one thirsty gulp.

Getting up, he cracked his limbs and joints and went about his normal morning routine before pulling a random yukata out of the shared closet. Honestly, he didn't care what he wore, as long as it was clean and comfortable. Oh, and nothing flashy. He didn't do flashy. Swinging it around himself, he tied the obi haphazardly and hid his kunai pouch in a deep pocket. With a fleeting glance at the mirror hanging on the wall (What? He had to keep _some_ semblance of hygiene, right?), he turned to leave the room. He stopped abruptly when he noticed the crumpled pile of blankets, quilts, and pillows on the floor. Maybe Sakura had fallen onto the floor in the middle of the night, rolled around, and then had been too lazy to get back on.

Yeah, that sounded like something she would do.

Without a second thought he left for the dining room, but not before reaching for an apple from the complimentary fruit bowl. He hadn't forgotten the miso; there was definitely something weird about it, although the throbbing in his head was gone and he could think clearly. He'd have to thank Sakura for that later. Oh Sakura, sweet sweet Sakura. She pretended to be such an angel.

But when he turned into the breakfast room, there was nobody to be seen. Every chair was empty. There was, however, a pile of neatly stacked dishes and chopsticks, and the smell of meat and potatoes crept out from under the chef's workroom. He left the hall, stealing a glance at the giant clock on the entrance wall. 12:30- no wonder they'd eaten without him; they hadn't had much of a choice anyways.

The sun streamed through the tall, glass windows, warming the insides of the castle. He heard laughter coming from the outside and followed it, passing the bathrooms.

"Kakashi?" A timid voice reached out. Sakura had her hands on her robe, no doubt drying them. "We're all outside. It's warm. Outside. Today," she picked her hands up and gestured erratically, something resembling a burning rash creeping up her neck and encroaching her face. She couldn't quite seem to meet his eyes. "It's nice outside today," her fingers had picked up the same routine as Hinata's.

At a loss for words at her sudden incoherence (It was probably his looks... who was he kidding? It was _always_ his looks.), he managed a short "Thanks." Her eyes were deliberately avoiding his, and when they walked side by side out the doors, Sakura seemed distracted. "Something on your mind?" Kakashi questioned, raising an eyebrow (Or maybe both, not like Sakura could tell.) and tossing the apple up into the air before catching it and taking a bite. The suction sound seemed to have Sakura's "rash" creeping even higher.

"_Whatno,I'mperfectlyfineI'mgoingtogotalkwithHuyu_," and without taking a single breath, she took off somewhat klutzily, looking extremely flustered. Kakashi watched as she tripped over the hem of her orange-pink-yellow yukata. Huyu reached out to her; Sakura grabbed his forearms, balancing herself. Something in the way she smiled sheepishly up at him irked Kakashi, but he overlooked it, listing it off as sheer hunger. Lack of food could deal a copious amount of damage on a ninja.

He leaned against a tree trunk and bit into the fruit without hurry, going over the past day's work. They still hadn't gotten any leads on the scroll, though it had been only one full day. In fact, he should really talk to Sakura about it... He went over the mission in his head, beginning from the day the Hokage had assigned it to them to their second day in the castle. Honestly, why had it been important to arrange a marriage between him and Sakura again? If he wasn't positive, the Hokage hadn't even _mentioned_ why it was urgent that they did. Was it a flaw in the plan? Or maybe it was actually an advantage?

"Sakura," Said girl looked over her shoulder, pausing her conversation with the Princess's fiance. "Can I talk to you?" Nodding, the pinky turned back around to finish the last bit of what she had been saying to the Prince before making her way to Kakashi. "Can we talk about the mission?"

"Oh, about that! I felt something on the floor last night under the carpets, while I was sleeping. I wanted to check it out, but I was scared to wake you, and I can't lift the rug without moving the beds. So maybe we could take a look tonight?" The pieces in Kakashi's head clicked, and Sakura blinked hesitantly at the somewhat disbelieving way he was staring at her. "What?"

"You were sleeping on the floor last night?"

Sakura's eyes doubled in size, obviously caught in the act. "Maybe, kind of."

"Kind of?"

"Uhhh, yeaaah,"

Kakashi dismissed her excuses with a shake of his head. "So when did you want to look at this carpet?"

"Tonight, if that's ok," Sakura replied, slightly surprised by how quick he was to let her off.

An evil idea took root in Kakashi's head. Now would be a good time to test out... "Tonight?" His partner nodded slowly, cautious of the slow smirk she could see beneath his mask. "When I could do anything I wanted with you."

Full-blown alarm immediately replaced the unsettled look on Sakura's face. "Actually, maybe it'd be a good idea to go up and just show you it right now! We'll bring Huyu. Or Yuki? Maybe even Kazuko!" She laughed in an off-color way, lifting a hand and placing it behind neck. This was most likely a nervous habit she'd picked up from Kakashi– Yup, no doubt it. It definitely was, especially the way she was rubbing.

Ironically, that had been something Kakashi himself had taken from Obito. At first, it had been a game of mockery. When Obito lifted his hand to comfort himself with the familiar motion, so would Kakashi, mimicking him just for the laughs. Eventually, Obito had lost his temper (In a way _extremely _similar to Naruto's rants.) and refused to do it, effectively breaking the habit. By that time, it had been installed into Kakashi instead.

He dropped the evil-act. "Sakura, did I do something last night?"

"No," Sakura replied a little too quickly, meeting his quizzical eye before blushing and taking a sudden, profound interest in a pebble by her shoe.

"So you just kind of felt like sleeping on the floor."

"Err, yeah,"

"Really now."

"It's good for the back," Sakura spluttered, her neck turning red at her persistent rubbing. "Y'know. Once in a while."

"Really? Maybe I'll sleep on the floor with you tonight."

"NO! _No_," she repeated when Kakashi's eveybrow flew higher. "It's not good for, uh, for older men. Back pains, you know? The floor is kind of hard..." Now that was just a straight out _lie_. There was no way the floor in the castle was hard, not with the kind of money and willing-hospitality the Princess had. Plus, he wasn't _that_ old...

Her ex-sensei was quiet, and then he chuckled. "I guess I can trust you, since you _are_ the medic, after all." Sakura seemed to almost wilt with relief, dropping her hand and smiling up at him. Something in Kakashi had him smiling back– really, actually smiling. Not the eye-crease bullcrap. Sakura's own grin faltered before widening at the show of genuine emotion. It was quiet for a second before Kakashi continued, turning towards the castle. "Wanna go?"

"Sure!" Sakura bounded towards the steps. Both opened automatically, and he and his teammate climbed the steps to their room. The pinkette pulled the curtains together as close as possible, taking extra precautions not to be caught. Closing the door, she lit the numerous candles in the room. "Don't knock them over," Then her eyes narrowed. "Or try anything, you perv."

"A little trust would be nice," Kakashi sighed comically, eye drooping.

"First, we gotta move the beds," Sakura pointed out, ignoring his little comment. She lifted the bed without a struggle, putting it aside with a single movement.

"Jeez, you just get scarier and scarier everyday," The copy-nin mumbled, pushing the bed to a side.

Sakura shot him a beady glare, "If you're forgetting, I trained under the Hokage." Wiping her hands against together, she grinned excitedly. "I've always wanted to find a hidden door under a carpet," she took one end of the carpet. "Can you help me roll it up?" Kakashi found the other edge in the dim light and tugged to show her he had it. Together, they rolled it halfway before there was a thud, and Sakura swore. "I just hit my foot against something hard," she whined, dropping the thick, soft carpet. Bending over (To which Kakashi got a nice view of her backside.), she searched in the darkness. "Found it!" She breathed, fumbling with what seemed to be a heavy, gold handle. She yanked at it, but to no avail. It didn't budge.

"Let me try," Kakashi offered, pressing behind her and taking her hand.

Sakura flinched. What was _with_ her? This whole day, anytime she'd been around her ex-sensei, the heat would climb all over her, almost like it was attacking her. Then she'd remembered just a few minutes ago, when he had smiled at her. Her entire throat had tightened, restricting the flow of air to her lungs and sending her into a heady spiral.

She felt his muscles work against her as he grabbed the handle over her hand and pulled the door to the right. Sakura bit her bottom lip as it slid open. When it thunked to a stop, Kakashi let go, and Sakura let out a breath she hadn't known she'd been holding.

"Thanks," she said shortly after swallowing. "So... Wanna go?" She suggested, waving to the ladder. Kakashi swung a leg over a rung. "Do you have a light?" Hesitating, Kakashi shook his head. Sakura stuck a hand into her yukata, fished around, and pulled out a flashlight. Kakashi was stared unabashedly at her exposed cleavage. "Hey perv, heads up," she groused, throwing the tool at him. It hit his head before he caught it, and his eye smiled in its typical way.

"Don't get so worked up, Haruno," So saying, he disappeared into the darkness. "It's pretty cold down here," she heard him say. She took that as his way of saying it was safe, and hopped onto the ladder herself. When she hit the bottom of the steel ladder, she let herself drop. She landed swiftly in the standard position with one foot, one knee, and one hand on the floor. The other hand on her thigh, in case she needed to reach for a kunai. Not without doing a double-take first, she got up, her eyes adjusting to the darkness.

"I like your panties," The jonin hummed, effectively flustering his teammate, who right now seemed to be sublimating through her head. Still smiling, Kakashi switched the flashlight on. It flickered and died out. "Why do flashlights always do that when you need them?"

"Give it to me," Sakura hissed, purposefully digging her nails into his bicep and wrenching the apparatus away with her other hand.

"Ow! Watch where you're grabbing,"

Thankfully, he couldn't see the scattering of pink across the bridge of her nose. _Very hard muscle_, she noted, before catching herself. This was _Kakashi_. Her ex-sensei. She shouldn't be noticing his body, of all things to notice. "Just give it to me," she grumbled. Warm plastic met the palm of her hand, and she hit the wide top against her other hand. It flickered dangerously for a few seconds before lighting up brightly, right in her ex-sensei's eye...s?

"Watch where you're shining it," he hissed, cringing. The tomoe immediately began a frenzied cycle, and Kakashi closed his eye to calm it. "You watch my back. I'll use this," he tapped his left eye, "to keep the front."

It really was cold. Occasionally, Sakura would shiver. There wasn't much conversation going between the two, and the silence was eerie. It heightened her senses, but not without the side-affect of setting her on edge as well. She'd never been that fond of dark, not since... She always kept a light on in her apartment, just in case. Just in case.

"So, uh,"

"Shh," Kakashi warned, stopping. Sakura bumped into him, and they were back to back.

_Drip. Drip_.

Sakura tensed. She jumped at the thundering footsteps above her and almost shrieked when Kakashi put a hand on her shoulder. "Calm down," he said, pushing her forward. "Let's go back." Sakura didn't argue; she wanted to get out of this creepy place as soon as possible. "Sounds like they're looking for us," he pointed at the ceiling, and Sakura heard the panicked voices. "I'd guess a few more minutes before they get to our rooms or call for assistance." He pulled a book with a green cover out of his pocket, flipping instantaneously to a page near the middle.

Sakura giggled. "Oh, that reminds me! I have _Paradise_."

"What were you doing with _Paradise_?" Kakashi asked without taking his eyes off his book.

"What would I do with it?" Sakura deadpanned, vein-throbbing in her forehead.

"There are lots of things you could do with–"

"You're disgusting," Sakura interrupted, her voice everything but amused.

"If you're going to think that, I'd prefer _morbidly fascinating_," Kakashi replied lightly, flipping to the next page. Sakura snorted in response.

Their footsteps echoed off the smooth walls. _A dungeon_, Sakura realized, breathing slowly and softly. The edgy feeling returned to her, and to shoo it off, she said loudly to Kakashi, "The Fireworks Festival is tonight," Kakashi_ hmm_ed in response. "Huyu invited me." She was mildly surprised at the slight tense in his posture. That wasn't very characteristic of him. "I had to turn him down. I think he forgot we were married." She didn't mean for the accusing note to slip into her voice, but she was sure Kakashi caught it anyhow.

But if he did, he didn't let on. "Is it mandatory?"

"It'd be kind of weird _not_ to go. I'm definitely going, and I don't think it's a good idea for me to go alone..." _Now I sound like I'm grabbing at straws. Like I want him to go._ "We might find something important, you know?" Hopefully that fixed it. "And anyhow, you'd be all alone in the castle."

Fortunately, Kakashi nodded his head without any questions. She probably had the book to thank for that. Nothing disturbed Kakashi from his _Icha Icha_ books; they were like his happy place, and she respected that. Much like cuddling with the quilt her mother had made her when she was 4 sent her to her happy place, not that she'd tell anybody that. After all, it was embroidered with all things pink, and if anybody knew Sakura, they knew how much she hated pink. As if that one time she tried to dye her hair brown wasn't enough proof of _that_... She hadn't been able to get rid of the unnatural shade of tomato-with-brown for weeks (_"I heard Sasuke likes tomatoes," _Ino had snickered. _"I heard Shikamaru is gay, what with women being troublesome and all. _Especially_ blondes," _Sakura had snapped back, to which Ino had narrowed her eyes. _"Oh, it's _on_, forehead."_).

"It starts at 8, so we're meeting in the entrance hall at 7." No reply. "Don't be late!" Although that was redundant. Kakashi still didn't utter a word. _Fine_. Sakura climbed up the ladder, heaving herself out of the opening. Kakashi followed, book still in hand. Sliding the door shut, they grabbed the rug to put it back into place. "Wait," Sakura leaned forward, picking something sparkly up. An earring. She pocketed it for later examination, kicking the rug into place. "Time to eat!" She sing-songed, skipping out of the room.

Excitement bubbled in everybody but Kakashi at dinner. He at least had the decency not to read while he was eating. Midway through the meal, Yuki beckoned to Sakura for her attention. "I was wondering if you'd like to get ready for the festival with me? I have a lot of kimonos I've never worn that I think would suit you," her voice trailed off, and she smiled. Sakura read her face, looking for any scheming looks, but she was innocent. She seemed to mean what she said.

"That'd be wonderful," she agreed, setting her chopsticks over her empty bowl delicately. "When should I go to your room?"

After a moment of brooding the Princess clapped her hands together, "Actually, let's go right now!" Her eyes sparkled passionately. "I'm full as it is!" She grabbed Sakura's hand over the table, pulled her up with her (With amazing strength for someone so tiny.), and led her out of the banquet hall. They hurried up the stairs.

"See you at 7?" Sakura waved to Huyu and Kakashi. Huyu had an amused and wide grin on his face. Kakashi had his eyes glued back to _Tactics_, and merely gave a nod, motioning that he'd heard her. With a huff, Sakura turned back around, rolling her eyes at her partner's antics.

The Princess stuck her head out from behind her door, looked left, then right, before closing it. When she turned back to Sakura, there was a frightening gleam in her eyes.

"I can't wait to see you in these." Sakura gulped at the rather large wardrobe towering over her. Yuki flung the door open, displaying her wide range of kimono's, dresses, and robes. They were arranged by colour, graduating from white to black. Without balking, the small girl in front of her pulled one kimono out after another, all from the sections of pink, red, orange, yellow, and green. She finished with a wipe of her brow and a content exhale. Sakura staggered under the weight of the clothing. "The bathroom is over there," She thrust her arm at a double door on the other side of the room. "Just hang your old yukata out over the door and I'll take it to be washed.

"What about you?" Sakura asked shyly from behind the mountain of silks and cottons.

"I've had a dress specially embroidered. I'll pick it up from my seamstress while I'm sending your yukata."

"Wow, I can't thank you enough–"

"No worries! Here, you can keep them all. I'm sure they'll look good on you."

"W-wha?"

With a pleasant smile, the girl shoved her into the bathroom. Sakura stood slack-jawed, astounded by the offer the Princess had just made, as well as the crystal chandeliers and pearl faucets. The jeweled grandfather clock in the center of the bathroom told her it was 5. Two hours to ready herself.

She stripped, sticking the casual yukata onto a hanger and stealthily slipping out of the bathroom for the Princess. Then, she proceeded to take a shower, taking advantage of the numerous soaps and scents and shampoos. She sniffed through each one before settling for a pleasant citrus-y scent. When she stepped out, she shivered. Her skin rose, and she grabbed a towel, pressing her face into it and sighing. This was _heaven_. If she could live like this everyday, she would never take it for granted...

"Sakura?" The girl addressed snapped out of her daze. "My hairdresser will style your hair for you," Then she heard the door shut again. Yuki had left again, most likely to get said hairdresser.

Checking how she looked in each of the formal kimonos seemed like a heavy task. Sakura omitted the ones with the patterns she didn't quite like, which still left her with a couple 30 more. It was already 5:30, no time to waste. With a sigh, she lifted the first gown, surprised by its light weight. She held it next to her naked body, save for her panties, and scanned herself.

Thanks to years of training, she was lean and slim. No thanks to her genetics, she had wide hips. Then again, it wasn't all that unpleasant. Almost curvy, she had to admit...

_"I don't know. Maybe it's just cause you're a nice C," _

Sakura turned fire-hydrant red and snapped around so her back faced the mirror, slipping the dress on before turning to look. Not bad. But she was sure there was better in the pile. 30 minutes later, she had narrowed it down to 5. Getting lazy, she tossed aside the ones that would most-likely bring out the pink in her hair. With the green ones to the side (The contrast would emphasize the pink faaar too much.), she was left with 3 kimonos of varying golden-orange hues. It was an easy pick from there, and she threw on the one with a trellis of sakuras climbing up the side. Two large cherry blossoms were embroidered strategically at the edge. It was simple and not overdone. The edges were lined with a thin strip of white with a line of gold thread on it. The obi was the same, white with a thread of gold treading just a centimeter from the edge.

She exhaled in a way that resembled relief. As if on cue, Yuki said through the door, "I'm sending the hairdresser in, whether you're ready or not!" Sakura smiled and greeted the elderly woman, who soaked in the oddness of her client's hair colour for a minute or two. Then, she seated Sakura in front of the mirror. To Sakura's untrained eye, it seemed as though all she had done was twist her hands. It was a simple twist. To finish it off, the older lady stuck a pin onto the edge so that it cradled the hair. A leaf-pin, with a made-in-Konoha stamp on the back, no doubt. But it did bring out her eyes nicely.

"Thank you," Sakura nodded her head, and the hairdresser bowed back, escorted out by the Princess, who turned around, gasped, and nearly fell over with pride at the sight before her.

"Amazing, I knew it," She cooed dramatically, placing a hand over her mouth and looking away with tears in her eyes. Sakura sounded her gratefulness again before the Princess pushed her out of the room. "It's 6:45, you have 15 minutes to go do whatever it is you like. Just don't get the dress dirty."

Sakura went back to her shared room to fetch her pouches. Strapping a pouch to her thigh, she debated whether or not to replace her unpractical shoes with her standard sandals. The kimono was long enough to hide them, but if even a slight breeze drifted by, she would be exposed. She could always kick off these shoes, anyway. 6:53. Kakashi was probably already waiting downstairs with his beloved book. With an odd feeling in her stomach, she descended the stairs, stopping at the top of the last set.

**

* * *

**

Kakashi waited idly with his trademark book at the foot of the steps. A swift peek at the clock told him it was 6:57. Huyu was waiting beside him, shifting his weight from one foot to the other ever few seconds. He seemed highly uncomfortable.

… That was too bad for him.

"Sakura?" The before-mentioned boy called out.

"Hey," A timid voice replied. Kakashi's head turned to the familiar sound. Her bright emerald flickered momentarily to his cool gray before darting back to Huyu. She seemed apprehensive as she stepped down the stairs, taking her time and watching her step. Out of reflex, he looked her over appraisingly. The obi accented her waist. Any girl would have been roiling with envy at the sight before him. Wait, what was that supposed to mean? He shook his head lightly to clear his cluttered thoughts. Sakura was a pretty girl; that was it. _Girl?_ His conscious snickered. _Quit lying to yourself, especially with the way __you were handling her last night..._

_That_ shocked him out of his senses. _The way I handled her last night? What?_

"Kakashi?" Sakura shook him. He swore his brain hit the sides of his head; the girl didn't know her own strength. "You ok?" Her eyebrows were knit. Kakashi made a noise of acknowledgement, and Sakura breathed a sigh of relief. "You're early for once," she said, quirking a smile.

Shooting her a quick, humorous look, he jerked his head to the stairs. "The Princess is here," Sakura turned, and sure enough, Yuki skidded to a stop in front of the stairs, straightened her back, lifted her shin, and walked down gracefully, smiling as if she was surrounded by a crowd. Huyu took her hand, kissed it half-heartedly (It was mutual, by the look on the Princess's face.), and then dropped it unceremoniously. Yukihime skittered to Kakashi, smiling.

"Oh! You're wearing the kimono Sakura bought yesterday!" Kakashi watched as Sakura's eyes grew, and she turned him by his shoulders. Indeed, the crow was embossed on the back. Something caught her eye, and she pressed a finger to his back. Something small and round pressed into his back. "It's missing an eye," Yuki stated in a downcast way.

"Its eye is red," An uncertain smile slipped onto her thoughtful face. For the second time that night, his eyes met with her's, and they exchanged amused smiles. "C'mon, let's go!" Sakura lifted her hand, hooked it through Kakashi's, and led them jovially out of the castle.

"This festival is the _works!_" Sakura cried, staring up at the ferris wheel. Brightly coloured tents for vendors and carnival stands were lined up row by row, facing each other. People crowded each stop, chattering happily. Kids carrying cones of cotton candy and ice cream, sticks of dango, and handfuls of hot fish cakes bolted past them, screaming to their friends and parents, _next stand, next stand!_ Couples walked by them, swinging their hands and laughing. A majority of the crowd was in kimonos, although there was the occasional... outcast (_"Kakashi, she's barely wearing anything. Close your mouth." "Are you drooling? That's disgusting..."_).

"Look, anko-dumplings!" Without waiting for her ex-sensei, she raced towards the source of the sweet smell of syrup. "I've gotta have one," she bit her bottom lip, looking up expectantly at Kakashi, who sighed and pulled out his wallet. He opened it, pulled out a ryo, and handed it to the vendor, who smiled and handed the girl a paper plate with 5 dumplings. They walked away, making their way through the packed road. "Want one?" She offered, pointing the rotund dumpling at him. He leaned away from the sticky scent. "You don't like?" With a disbelieving look, she shrugged. "More for me!" She bit in and moaned, eyes glazing over and flickering shut with pleasure. Something pooled in Kakashi's stomach, and he found himself thinking how if a dumpling could make her moan that loudly, imagine how she would sound under him, writh– nononono. No. This was wrong. It didn't help that when he looked back at her, she was swiping her pointer finger around the plate, licking the syrup from her digit. Kakashi grabbed her wrist before she could do it again, fighting the urge to lick it off himself.

"That's... not clean." he finished lamely, grabbing a napkin from a stand they were passing. Watching as she cleaned off the rest from her fingers, he couldn't help the twinge of envy. To be those fingers...

"But it'd be such a waste to just throw it away!" She grumbled, gazing at the disposable plate forlornly. He couldn't help the amused smirk at her rueful pout, but he still grabbed the plate ruthlessly and flung it into the nearest trash can.

Which was a good 5 meters away.

"Way to be sneaky," Sakura said sarcastically, eyes narrowed, vein-throbbing. "Cause that's definitely not a dead giveaway of your skill,"

"I'm sure nobody saw that," Kakashi replied cheerfully, pushing Sakura along hastily. She looked up at him.

"Let's get a mask for your... blind-spot." Sakura eyed the few on-lookers. Kakashi scoffed at her choice of words, but agreed. She dragged him mercilessly from one game to the next, winning first a mask, then a goldfish, then a huge stuffed dog (Which she gave to Kakashi out of sheer pity. He'd been hinting none too subtly about how much Pakkun would like something like that. Although Sakura heard it with Pakkun's name replaced with Kakashi's.), and so on and so forth. Kakashi had the mask strapped over the side of his head. The fox-mask looked remarkably like that of an ANBU mask (_"Let's give it to Naruto when he comes back!" She'd proposed with her finger to Kakashi's nose._). His hair bent at the pressure, folding auspiciously over his 'bad' eye, as Sakura had put it.

By the end of the night, Sakura was lugging a large blue bag (Which she had also won.) of all her prizes. Perhaps it wasn't fair that she was a ninja at a fair designed for civilians, but it wasn't not like they knew. She was just an extremely lucky girl that was good at aiming and throwing to them. Kakashi had trailed behind her, letting her do what she wanted. At one point, Sakura had forced a dumpling into his mouth, making him chew and swallow out of brute strength.

"Good?" She'd asked.

"Alright." Kakashi had grimaced, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. Sakura had huffed, mumbling something about wasting the last dumpling on some loser who didn't even appreciate it.

Chewing thoughtfully on her 3rd stick of dango, she shouldered the bag, nudging Kakashi. "The fireworks start in 10 minutes. Should we meet up with Huyu and Yuki?" She wiggled the book of stationary she had won back and forth.

"There's Huyu," Kakashi flipped his book down in the direction he mentioned. The sandy brunette was crouched on the ground, circled by children who were pushing each other to see over one another.

"What's he doing?" She squinted, but still nothing. Kakashi's expression was stony.

"Playing with fire."

"Whaddya mean?" Sakura laughed, but when she looked back, it dropped without warning. Huyu had blown fire out of his mouth. His hands were placed together.

The Tiger seal.

"Kakashi, let's go," her eyebrows had drawn together, and a humorless air replaced her previous one.

They approached their escort, walking up to him with smiles on their faces. Or, Sakura was smiling at least. "The fireworks start in a moment, don't they?" Huyu turned around sharply, releasing the hand seal. Immediately, the fire dissipated.

"They do," he returned the grin. "Yuki's already there," Kakashi and Sakura tailed after him. Yuki, being the Princess, had managed front seats right in front of the stage. A large, affable looking man hopped on-stage, grabbing the microphone from a technician.

"Welcome, everybody, to the annual Fireworks Festival!" The crowd roared back, cheers and applause interrupting the man's speech. He laughed along, not at all perturbed by being disrupted. When the huzzah settled down, he continued, "as we all know, this festival is for all friends, families, and–" there was a single loud cheer, and the crowd chuckled. Huyu and Yuki seemed to be looking almost demonically at Sakura and Kakashi, both who stepped back from their menacing grins and bumping into each other. "_couples!_" The Prince and Princess whooped with the crowd, looking mischeviously at the two ninjas. "So if you know anybody dating," there was a momentary juggling in the crowd as people shoved their friends to the front so they could make their way up the stage, "engaged," the kunoichi gulped, Kakashi shifted uncomfortably behind his book, and Huyu and Yuki snickered, "Or married, please bring them up!" There was an intermission to sort everybody out. Sakura watched with mild interest, glad that neither the boy nor the girl had forced either of them up.

"God, this is mortif– Kakashi?" He was fidgetting nervously.

"Bathroom,"

"O–" He disappeared with a puff at her syllable, "kay...?"

"Where's Kakashi?" Yuki asked coyly, batting her lashes.

"He needed to use the bathroom."

"Well, tell him all four of us are going up when he's back!" Yuki turned to leave, but Sakura grabbed her.

"Wait, what's happening? Why are all four of us going up?"

Yuki giggled, pulling her hand away. "We get our own time cause I'm the Princess and Huyu is proposing," her face dropped. "But I'm not kissing him, so all he's gonna do is give me the ring." Sakura smiled sheepishly, understanding.

"But what's that got to do with me and Kakashi?"

Yuki's already large eyes widened even more. "Well, you two _are_ engaged, aren't you?" There was a flash of something in her eyes that Sakura didn't quite like.

"Well, yeah," Sakura replied stubbornly,

"Then it's solved! You two will kiss on stage." Yuki pranced away, and Sakura spluttered. A hand tapped her on the shoulder, and she turned around.

"I heard all of it." He said, bemused. Sakura groaned.

"This just sucks," the medic slapped a palm to her forehead, mumbling something incoherent.

"Think about it this way, you get to kiss me," Kakashi winked surreptitiously, an overly confident and crooked smile on his face. Sakura glowered at him, which was cut short by the crackle of the microphone. Suddenly, the kunoichi felt incredibly sick. Somersaulting seemed to be one of her stomach's favorite past times these past few days. "See you up there," Kakashi sighed, leaving her to dwell in her angst alone.

The first set of fireworks went off. Sakura watched in admiration as the flowers of colour burst against the inky black sky. The leftover smoke blanketed the stars. It was completely dark, save for the stage lights.

"I would like to announce Yukihime, beautiful Princess of Snow," there was loud applause, especially from the males, "and Huyu, Prince of the Land of Claws," More cheers, namely from the females. He flashed them a warm smile, and the half the crowd seemed to disappear in a faint. Sakura rolled her eyes, smiling. "In an effort to unite these two countries," the mic cut off with an ear-shattering wail, then a spark. The Prince got down on his knee, smiling.

"Yukihime," the crowd grew silent, "will you marry me?" To which the Princess promptly burst into 'tears' and shook her head feverishly. Sakura snickered to herself. _Staged_. An uproar of glee exploded exuberantly from the people of Snow. Yuki glowed, her teeth literally flashing in the light. She grabbed the mic hastily from the spokesperson, who flinched.

"That's not all, folks!" A wave of curiosity ran through the town. "I'd like my two _very _special bodyguards to come on stage, if you please?" Not like Sakura had a choice. She inhaled deeply, plastered a large smile on her face, and made her way to the platform, nodding discretely at her ex-sensei. Who she was about to kiss. "Kakashi and Sakura who are both engaged," she sighed dreamily, pausing to stare longingly at the two of them– or uh, pausing to stare longingly at Kakashi. Sakura forced her twitching eyebrow to stay still. "How about a kiss?"

Sakura wasn't against PDA, but... this was too much. A throng of people? In the few seconds that neither she nor her silver-haired partner had moved, a well-timed _Kiss!_ Rang through the still air. Soon, the whole blowout was chanting, _kiss! Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!_ Sakura smiled and turned to her partner before grimacing. He shrugged in reply, leaning down to her before pressing his lips...

To her forehead.

To say relief was what Sakura felt would be an understatement of the century. She could've danced; in fact, she almost did, until she heard the mixed replies from the array of people. Some cooed while others yelled for more. Could this be anymore self-depricating? Even Kakashi had his hand behind his neck, rubbing away with what Sakura assumed was a wry smile.

"Just a peck? That's no fun," the Princess pouted. "More!"

"Says the person who didn't even kiss her fiance," she grumbled, a vein in her forehead pulsing heavily.

"How about some fireworks?" Yuki exclaimed, looking too jittery for her own good. The timing technicians shot her a thumbs-up. "Goody," she giggled, literally dancing off stage.

_Great, now we _can't_ turn it down_. Kakashi hadn't budged an inch the entire time. In fact, he seemed to be sweating. Sweating bullets.

"Something wrong?" Sakura cocked her head, unfolding her arms. She was pretty sure she wasn't _that_ bad at kissing. Or maybe that's why all her boyfriends had broken up with her. An anxiousness settled in her stomach. Now really wasn't the best time to think about her long line of exes. Kakashi shook his head. "You have your mask anyways," she ensured, pulling at the strap. "Just, uh," she'd meant to say concentrate, but that didn't really seem like a good idea. "wing it?" Nice. Good job, Sakura.

Kakashi laughed. "Sure, wing it,"

So when the fireworks whizzed through the nighttime sky and Sakura pressed her lips tentatively towards his covered mouth, imagine her surprise when there was a puff of smoke, and she was left making fish faces to a cloud of dust.

* * *

"Sakura–" The three of them, Huyu, Yuki, and Sakura were at the doors of the castle now. Yuki reached out, meaning to place a comforting hand on the pinkette's shoulder, but Sakura slipped through the doors as soon as she could.

She stretched, letting her joints pop and crackle. Yawning, she rubbed away the tears that formed, smiling at the couple behind her, "Don't worry about me, I'm fine. Just tired, it's been a long night after all!" She winked at the two before striding up the stairs.

She really didn't want their pity– in fact, she didn't want _anybody's_ pity. Sakura had been humiliated in front of an entire conjugation of people. Although she had passed it off smoothly (_"Stage fright,"_ she had reasoned with a _what-can-you-do-about-it?_ Shrug.), the blow it'd struck to her already whimpering ego left her incredibly hurt. It wasn't because it was Kakashi, it was more because he was a guy, and all guys seemed to run from her. Why? Was something wrong with her? Was it her forehead? Was it too big– No. Not this again. It scratched her conscious raw, but she was too tired to deal with it tonight. Too exhausted, too shattered, too _pissed, Godammit_.

She really did not want to enter that room right now.

Standing outside, debating whether to let herself in or just deck it out in the library– which was pretty warm– the door hit her forehead with a bang. There it was again. Her damn forehead. A continuous string of curses left her pretty little mouth.

Kakashi was standing on the other side of the threshold, wearing nothing but baggy black sweats and covering his mouth with a hand. He was brushing his teeth. "I could feel your chakra–"

Sakura pushed right past him, throwing his things into his bag and chucking it at him with all her chakra-enforced strength. Kakashi caught it with the hand he'd been holding his brush with, but not without losing balance. "Now get the fuck out," Sakura demanded, staring him straight in the eyes.

Kakashi sighed, walking back into the bathroom. The water ran as he rinsed. Sakura plodded to the doorway, clutching the frame. "It wasn't a question," Turning the faucet off, Kakashi straightened up, a hand over his mouth.

"If this is about tonight–" he walked towards her, shaking his head. Sakura backed away, eyes flaring with every step.

"If? _If?_ You're not _really_ that dense, are you Hatake?" Kakashi did a double-take at the use of his surname. "You'll never understand because you're a stupid _guy_, but what you did doesn't just account for _feelings_. You. Left. Your. Teammate. Out. Alone. To die."

"That's kind of stretching it, isn't it?" But guilt was written across his face, namely his hooded eye.

"I can't believe I had the decency to save your sorry ass," her back hit the wall, but she gave it no regard. "You couldn't even _poof_," she made an exploding motion with her hands to exemplify what she meant, "back after the entire ordeal. No, you just ran your sorry self back to the castle." Her eyes hardened. "God, you're _pathetic_," she spat, "I knew I was right about you in that forest."

It was Kakashi's turn to lash out. Without thinking, he grabbed her, forcing her back against the wall. The force of the hit had the air in her lungs whooshing out, and she hissed when he released her. He towered over her as she slid down, her kimono riding up. She glared up at him through her bangs, gnashing her teeth. His hands were stretched, fingertips pressed against the wallpaper over her shoulder and besides her head. His head was ducked, watching her.

"_Say it again_," he ordered, voice completely void of anything.

"What is it with you and _cornering_ me?" Sakura bit back, thrusting a hand to his chest to shove him away.

Kakashi caught both fists with one hand. His fingers curled around her wrists, nails digging into her skin, biting just a little. _Warm_, Sakura thought without warning. "What did you call me, Sakura?"

"_Pathetic_," Sakura repeated adamantly, clenching her jaw. "You're the most pathetic person I've ever met. You're never on time, you read the same _porn_ over and over again, you make promises you can't keep, you wear a mask almost 24/7, you say one thing and mean another, you–" her ranting was cut short when Kakashi's warm mouth met hers.

Warm, _maskless_ mouth.

Sakura, however, was too caught up in the way his tongue was playing against hers to notice. Maybe the feeling of fabric-less skin against skin should have set off alarms, but she was too far gone. God, his mouth was so _soft_, and the way his mouth moved against hers– she fumbled with her hands, looking for something to grab hold of. Nothing. So she settled with molding them to his abs.

Minutes must have passed. Sakura hummed, her stomach twisting and knotting and her head spinning and tingling. An unfamiliar sensation shot through her body, and she moaned lightly, her clutch on Kakashi tightening, then loosening, and climbing up his chest with feather light touches. She brushed against his nipple accidentally, but that was all Kakashi needed to jerk away from her.

An unnameable look was exchanged before Kakashi released her, walking out of the room with a slam of the door.

But the lust in his eyes was unmistakable, Sakura concluded. And neither was the hint of fear.


	6. Chapter 6

a/n: I'd initially been kinda cautious about writing an M fic, since mostly all I do is read them. I wasn't sure if I'd actually write it, or maybe change the rating to T later, but if you haven't guessed already, the M-ness started around the ending of the last chapter. I'm not saying that I'm inserting a smut scene anytime soon (But that doesn't mean that I'm going to leave you guys frustrated at the lack of... 'interaction' between these two, LMAO!), but I'm _positive_ that the rating will suit this fic.

Ohmanohjeez, so I woke up this morning (At 3 in the afternoon, ROFL. But that's what you get when you go to bed at 5 in the morning.), blahblahblah, did stuff, and when I finally logged onto my laptop at 6, I had, like, 10-15 reviews. I was BLOWN AWAY! You guys are the BEST! I read through every one of them! And thanks for the faves and alerts! -Wipes away tears- When I read your reviews, it makes me smile! And I'm so glad I can make you all laugh! I'm not the best writer, but I've improved since first joining FF, and I'm glad you guys are enjoying this fic! I've been updating a LOT. o.o!

Have I ever told you how comma obsessed I am? If not, you'll definitely notice it in this chapter. -cries- This chapter is shorter than normal... And I'm kind of unhappy with it, but I don't know what to do to fix it (I've tried a lot of things. XDD)... Maybe in the future I'll edit it. A LOT. I like the beginning and end, I just hate the part with Huyu. Prolly because I love KakaSaku too much to seperate them. -sad face- Lol~ Oh. And this is my first pseudo-lemon!

OK. AFTER THIS, I'LL SHUT UP. So I know some of you are wondering about the girl Kakashi was supposed to marry, etc. etc. It _will_ be answered, but you'll have to keep reading and waiting to learn it all. ^-^ I'd initially intended for this to be a short chapter fic, but it seems it'll be longer than what I'd first thought.

**About a Girl**

_I'm not in love,_

_this is not my heart;_

_I'm not gonna waste these words_

_about a girl._

He hadn't been thinking. At all. All that had crossed his mind was how angry he'd been. How angry he'd been at her stupid oversensitivity when all he'd been trying to do was spare her. Even better, she had to go and show exactly how grateful she was by throwing him out of the room and calling him _pathetic_.

And that's when his thinning patience snapped. "What did you call me, Sakura?" He'd asked in a low, strained voice, daring her to repeat what she'd just said. And oh boy, did she ever. The frustrating thing was that he couldn't even remember what she'd said. The only thing that had been registering in his head was the mesmerizing way her lips moved when she spoke. Sure, Sakura was a beauty when she was hissing and spitting, the way her pretty chartreuse eyes spiked with emotion, but it was her mouth– soft and smooth and inviting, puckering gently at every 'o' and meeting at every 'n' or 'm.' Still, that wasn't what had him losing it. That was the second where her tongue darted out to wet her lips; he knew he was a goner.

And incidentally, he was falling for her out of sheer _lust_. Not a smart idea.

_Not like it matters. Just imagine her mouth when she's screaming your name–_ His boxers tightened a fraction, and he shook his head, effectively shutting up the little voice and rattling out the the little affair, he'd raced out the room, left the castle, and raced up the nearest tree, hoping the cold wind would effectively staunch his increasingly growing arousal.

It wasn't his fault. No, not at all. For some reason, after having overheard the Princess tell Sakura the plan, he'd begun... _panicking_. And that wasn't normal at all. It hadn't been blistering and raw panic, but it had been a twinge, strong enough for him to recognize it. He'd excused himself, passing it off as nature's call– but as soon as he'd removed himself from prying eyes, he'd summoned a shadow clone to replace him. With clear detail, he'd explained to the clone that he was _not _to kiss her in the way the crowd was pleading for. Then he had walked back, admiring the fireworks from the castle's roof (Which had offered a much better view, anyways.). In one instance it had seemed as if the display was over; smoke littered the sky and he'd gotten up to brush himself off and return to his shared room, but as he'd neared the ledge to leap off, more fireworks had exploded. Shortly after, his clone had appeared before him with a wave of his hand, crouching and smiling in that highly frustrating way. _What a pity. She's pretty cute_, he'd interjected before disappearing; then the fleeting image of his lips pressing a kiss to his teammate's head flooded his mind, as well as the feeling of her smooth forehead against his mask.

He had intended _not_ to gain the knowledge of how it felt to kiss Sakura Haruno. Eyes narrowed, he couldn't help the bitter thought from entering his thoughts: _Way to blow up in my face_.

The worst part?

He'd enjoyed it.

* * *

Sakura couldn't sleep. No matter how much she shifted, twisted, or curled, no position could help her get comfortable. All she could do was replay the way Kakashi's mouth felt slanted to hers. Kicking off her covers, she sat up, looking around. He still wasn't back. The bed was empty. For a split second, she debated climbing onto the bed in case _that_ was the reason why she couldn't sleep. Unfortunately, she was too lazy and emotionally beat up to make the short stretch to hurl herself onto the goose down duvet. Her head hit the pillow with a depressing _thunk_ (_Probably from the weight of my forehead_, Sakura snarled. _Why are you still up so late?_ Inner Sakura croaked back, voice heavy with sleep.).

Lifting her arm– when had her arm become so heavy?– she pressed her fingers against her lips. After the feverish kiss, she had sat where Kakashi had dropped her, pondering what exactly had just happened. Was Kakashi ok? Had something been bothering him? Maybe she shouldn't have kicked him out so suddenly... After all, he always did what he did for a reason. Regret pulsed through her.

With a jolt, she realized how typical this was of her. It was so her to act out in a fit of rage and then later resent her actions, worrying more about the other person's well-being than her own. Sure, Sakura came off as a hot-headed and selfish girl, but she really wasn't.

She tried to rid throw out the sinking feeling in her stomach and focus on the more important matter at hand– the scroll– but she was too distracted; her mind kept creeping back to the tiny edge of fear in Kakashi's normally placid eyes. The idea of Kakashi being scared of anything was somewhat hair-raising. She was so used to her teacher's always calm, cool, and collected demeanor... it kind of shook her to realize that even Kakashi could 'freak out.'

What pestered her even more was that all she could think about in her cloudy mind after was how good of a kisser he was. She was such an idiot. He was her teacher; well, he was supposed to be, but she'd never believed that. Kakashi had always been her friend, beginning from when Team 7 had formed, to, ultimately, the not-quite-there-but-almost disbanding. Although they hadn't talked for virtually years between then and now, when she had finally managed to bring Kakashi to speak, it felt as if she'd slipped back into a pair of old, comfortable pajamas. Conversation had been easy and relaxing, and Kakashi was always quick and witty; he was generally a fun person to talk to. Would what happened tonight wreck it all?

Sakura swallowed. _I hope not_.

She admired the jonin, really. For his past and his present. He had a wonderful personality, albeit a little too laid back, maybe. And... he was the last remaining member of Team 7 to remain in Konoha. As pitiful as it sounded, she didn't want him to go. Then she really _would _be left behind. She wasn't sure if she could deal with it– First Sasuke, then her parents, and then Naruto. What would she do if Kakashi, her last reminder of the good old days, really abandoned her?

_Ok. I really need to stop with these whiny, clingy thoughts right now_, Sakura scolded, squeezing her eyes shut in a sad attempt to ward off the relentless scrutiny. Her mind wandered from subject to subject, pausing almost sadistically at one thought: the feeling of Kakashi's lips pressed to hers.

A sensitive topic, and not used in the way emotionally intended. Her entire body seemed to heat up and all her senses became aware. Warmth pooled in the heat of her stomach. _What the hell?_ _When did Kakashi start turning me on?_ Sakura thought, nerves seeming to fray at the very thought. Image after image flashed through her head. Inner Sakura seemed to sigh with content. _God, he's hot. Imagine _that_ all over you_, she snickered. The mere suggestion had Sakura's imagination flying. She groaned. Nonono, this was so wrong. _Why? _Inner Sakura inquired slyly. _You just said you'd never really thought of him as your teacher_, she reminded slickly, evil intentions written all over her. _Face it, sweetheart. You want him. And judging by what happened tonight, he probably wants you too..._ And without another word, she receded back into her host's mind, singing to herself.

But her eyes jerked open when she heard heavy footsteps a level below her. Quickly and quietly, she lifted herself to her feet. When she was sure they had passed, she reached out in the darkness, blindly searching for her bag. She pulled out her weapons and scrolls, stuffing them into pouches that she tied around her thighs and stomach after she had stripped. Her uniform was still being cleaned on some higher floor, so she settled for the yukata Yuki had returned to her before she'd gone to sleep. Shoving some more weapons into the deep pockets, she hesitated. The earring was gone. Perhaps the maids had taken it out when they were washing it.

Alone, the carpet was harder to roll, but she managed. Flicking the flashlight on, Sakura dropped through the door, forfeiting the use of the ladder. She landed without a sound, kudos to her ninja skills. Her senses peaked when she heard voices. One belonged to a male's, the other a female's; they were faint, as if sharing a secret. Sakura pressed herself against the wall and turned off the light. Immediately, she was submerged in darkness. Inch by inch, she made her way to the couple, stopping at the next turn.

"Kazuko," a voice giggled. The Princess. _Kazuko? The butler?_ Confusion consumed Sakura. "You know I don't mean to."

An exasperated sigh. "Even so, can't you stop yourself?" Sure enough, it was Kazuko's voice. Sakura's brow knit.

"I just... can't. You know how I am! I can't resist married men– especially ones that good-looking," The kunoichi's eyes widened, mimicking dinner plates extremely well. Her eyebrows shot so high, they seemed to disappear into her hairline. "And anyways, you're the only one I'll have," her voice was laced with seduction.

"Really? You were missing my earring at dinner, I noticed." Nobody said anything. Kazuko was most likely looking at the Princess accusingly.

"That stupid ninja girl had it." _What!_ "I accidentally dropped it in her room." her voice was bored. "I got it back though, see?" Another silence. "They know."

"I know," he replied. "Do you really think they're married?" He asked, voice strained.

"It's arranged. Perhaps that explains their distance," Sakura bristled. _Distance?_ Hmph, she was close to Kakashi! Kakashi was just... uncooperative!

"If he has no interest in her, why are you so interested in him?"

Another tired sigh. "I just can't resist things I can't have," she purred.

"Whatever," his tone was biting. "I'm going back now," Sakura tensed, but his footsteps weren't coming any closer to her. In fact, they were getting further and further away...

"Kazuko!" The Princess cajoled, her own voice growing quieter as she ran further from their meeting spot. "Don't be angry, please?" And then, they were both gone.

That meant that the underground dungeon was really an underground passageway. _What for_? Sakura gnawed at her lower lip, contemplating. _So the Princess really loves Kazuko, but she's got a married-men fetish. No wonder Tsunade paired you and Kakashi_, Inner-Sakura offered. _You do know that this also means that they know that you know about this dungeon-passageway thing? _Sakura took a moment to pick apart the confusing sentence, but when she had, she realized that she hadn't thought about that. She worried her lip some more, much more frantically. _But they're idiots. I'm surprised they didn't notice you_, her Inner drawled with contempt.

"Yo."

Sakura gave a violent start, banging her head against the ceiling. With a swear, she rubbed the bump, waiting for her head to stop spinning and her heart to stop pounding against her ribcage like a captive animal. "Why are you here?" She hissed, rushing past him. "Where did you _go_?"

"Were you worried?" Kakashi asked in an affable voice, sounding touched. "Pakkun was getting feisty, so I went out for a walk with him."

"For 5 hours." Sakura said flatly.

"Ah, yeah. We found a little kitten on the way–"

"In the snow."

"Well, yes, that's the thing you see, we decided to bring it back but it put up quite a fight. And Pakkun doesn't like cats anyways. But I rescued it in the end."

"Can I see it when we get back?"

A pregnant pause filled the spaces around and between them. "I let it go," Kakashi smiled, rubbing his neck and following Sakura down the hallway.

"Back into the cold? You're heartless," Sakura said flatly and without emotion or conviction, climbing up the ladder. They both knew that her cruel insult hadn't been aimed at his actions towards the kitten.

"Sakura–"

"Don't talk to me," Sakura said calmly. The venom in her eyes reflected in Kakashi's. She watched as his eyes seemed to droop more than usual. _Sakura, _Inner-Sakura repeated, her voice sly. W_hat did you say about being abandoned? I don't think I quite caught it..._ Immediately, the medic's heart squeezed. She fumbled, searching for the right words to use in the situation. "Nevermind, it's ok. Understandable, even. Who'd want to kiss me, right?" She winked, but her insides dropped at the truth in her words. Who _would_ want to kiss her?

"Sakura..." Pity glowed in his eyes.

"Kakashi, forget it. I forgive you, ok? No need for pity," Sakura emptied her pockets and unstrapped her weapons, dumping them back into her knapsack. She ducked under her covers for a second. Kakashi watched as she flung the yukata out from under. When her head poked out and she sat up, she was back in her pajamas. The smile she aimed at him was only whole because of the two halves that it consisted of: Halfhearted and half-assed.

"I'm sure you'd be amazed at how many guys want to date you," he sighed, crouching down so that they were eye to eye.

"Of course I would. It'd probably mean that I was dead and in heaven," Sakura retorted, obviously not amused.

Kakashi ruffled her hair. "That's not true. I've seen the way guys look at you when you're out," which was true. He'd seen it and so had Naruto, judging by the irate glare the jinchuuriki shot at every passing person who was in possession of an extra external organ. It'd become a joke that the two of them secretly shared (_"Let's keep a tally of how many guys take a look at Sakura's legs today," _Naruto would humor Kakashi, although entertainment was the last thing on his mind.). Sakura had been too ignorant to realize it, but if looks could kill, a majority of the male population in Konoha would be sizzling on the floor, burnt to ashes.

"You really think so?" Sakura peered up at him, eyes filled with doubt. Kakashi met her reproachful gaze, hand lingering in her pink locks. He was staring unabashedly; Sakura shivered. Unknowing to him, his hand slipped, trailing down the side of her face. His thumb brushed against her bottom lip, and Sakura inhaled sharply. "Kakashi?" She breathed.

The nin blinked rapidly before lifting his hand. He fixed his eyes on it for a few seconds before dropping it. "I really do," he smiled, eye creating a half-moon. "But we should go to sleep now. Are you sure you're alright on the floor?"

Confused with the sudden change in topic, Sakura cocked her head. "What?"

"The floor."

"What about it?"

Kakashi's lone eyebrow furrowed. "Are you sure you want to sleep on it?" He reiterated slowly.

Sakura blushed, "Yeah, I'm good!"

"Wake me up if you change your mind." Too late, she was already asleep.

As he drifted to sleep, he realized that he'd never seen the shade of green in her eyes. They were a new colour altogether.

* * *

"What are you doing up so early?" Kakashi grumbled, rolling over so his face met the pillow. Sakura had flung the curtains wide open, letting the sunlight filter through the glass, warming the entire room.

"Huyu invited me out today," She slipped into her clean yukata, tightening the kunais on her inner thigh. When she stood up, the fabric fell, hiding the weapons well. She examined it, poking and prodding.

"Like a date?" He asked with genuine curiosity.

He could practically feel her body temperature rising. Stubbornly, she replied, "No way! He's just showing me around," Her tone calmed, girlish joy bubbling in, "I'll get to shop."

He wasn't remotely interested, so he switched to a more important concern. "Did you find anything last night?"

Sakura transitioned smoothly, "Yuki knows that we know about–" She tapped her foot against the rug, "She's having an affair with Kazuko," Kakashi flipped over, his fascination piqued. "And that she has a thing for married men."

"That would explain a lot."

"That's the exact same thing I thought!" Sakura grinned, tying up her hair with a spare ribbon she'd found in the bathroom drawers. Kakashi watched with his hands behind his head.

"Who'd you inherit your hair colour from?"

Sakura faltered at the abrupt and personal question. "Neither, actually," Kakashi's eyebrows raised. "My father had red hair and my mother had blonde hair. I'm surprised I have pink hair instead of orange, but I think I'm more glad than surprised," she scrunched up her face and twisted to make a face at her partner, who chuckled. "Her hair always was really light though."

"What about your eye colour?"

"Oh, that," Sakura said offhandedly. "I wear contacts." At this, Kakashi sat up, leaning against his elbows for support, eyes wide open and attentive. Sakura burst out laughing, "Just kidding, my grandmother had green eyes, but mine are a shade darker, I think. I've never actually been able to name the colour, now that I think about it..." a thoughtful expression dawned on her; she looked almost sad. "Tell me about your mother," she said, probably trying to shake off her ponderings.

"I don't remember much. I like to imagine she was blonde," Sakura _hmm_ed to that statement. "And busty."

"Kakashi," Sakura warned, eyeing him with exasperation. "I can't believe it. Your own mother."

"I was just kidding," Kakashi laughed, pulling himself up. "She was a bit naïve, from what I've heard. And a great cook. Apparently, my father saved her one day and she fell in love,"

"Aaw," Sakura cooed, seating herself snugly by Kakashi on the edge of the bed. Her hip slipped perfectly into the curve where his own waist met his hip. "That's so romantic!"

"They were 14," the jonin eyed the pink-haired chunin skeptically. "And as thanks, she rang his doorbell every morning and left him something to eat." Kakashi tapped his chin, shuffling through his memories. "And one day he took a bite of her apple turnover and decided he was going to marry her." He finished drolly, eyes curving towards the sky.

"Like father like son! Except if anybody wanted to woo your heart, all they'd have to do is get you the latest edition of _Icha Icha_," Sakura teased, poking Kakashi in the side.

"Are you planning something?" Kakashi baited, hiding his mirth behind shock.

"I can't tell you that," Sakura winked, but the effect was lost when she burst into giggles. "How'd you find out? About your parents, I mean."

"It was one of the last stories my dad told me."

The change in the atmosphere was sudden and unavoidable. Sakura bit her lower lip. "I'm sorry," she mumbled, placing a hand on his shoulder delicately.

"Why're you sorry?" Kakashi admonished swiftly, standing up and walking swiftly to the bathroom. He closed the door and turned on the shower. Steam filled the room.

Faintly, he heard her say, "It just sucks being left behind."

* * *

She'd left the room shortly after, rushing down the stairs. When she saw Huyu seated on the last stair, eyes fixed pensively out the window, she smiled ruefully, tapping him on the shoulder. He turned around, smiling.

"Gorgeous as always," he flattered, taking her hand.

Heat crept up Sakura's face, "C'mon," she tugged, facing the sun as they walked out the double doors. "Aren't you going to show me around?"

"I'll bring you to the most popular shopping street," Sakura's eyes sparkled at the prospect. It was a long walk and conversation was somewhat stilted and awkward with her escort, but when they reached the market, Sakura sucked in an amazed breath.

"Wow, this is incredible!" She exclaimed, admiring the flurry of activity and scurry of people hurrying left and right; she dashed to the nearest tent. Holding up a string of pears and twirling around to present herself to Huyu, he chuckled.

"It doesn't suit you," shuffling around the stall, he picked up a short necklace. It was simple– a short, black ribbon centered with a sakura blossom. A choker, Sakura surmised. But it really was nice. Her eyes traced the outline, and she held the jewel in the palm of her hand. It caught the sunlight nicely. She could feel the heat of Huyu's eyes boring into her.

"It's pretty," she hummed, feeling troubled by his stare. She moved to put it back where he'd found it, but he stopped her with a gentle grab of her wrist, taking it from her grasp.

"I'll have this," he said to the vendor with a friendly smile. The girl blushed at the Prince, taking it with shaking hands and placing it in a bag. Sakura reached into her pocket, pulling out a draw-string bag. Huyu clasped his hand over the knot, ignoring the disagreeing noises Sakura made.

"You really shouldn't have," the kunoichi spluttered, peeking into the bag. The way she kept taking little looks at the purchase made her seem like a little child.

"Judging by how amusing you find it, I probably should have," her grinned at her.

Sakura regarded his smile with one of her own, noting how his eyes creased like Kakashi's. The realization had her balking; when had she started comparing everybody's smile to the pro-nin?

"Sakura?" He was scrutinizing her with worry, head tilted at an angle.

"S-sorry!" Sakura hastened, clearing her head. "I was just thinking,"

"About your fiance?" His voice was dark. Sakura bit her lip at his accurate guess.

"That, too. But mostly..." She took a steady breathe, gathering the courage to bring it up. "Remember that night at the festival? You performed a fire release jutsu. H-How?"

"Oh, that! My father made sure I learned ninjutsu along with my self-defense classes. I suppose I've an affinity towards the fire element," he looked towards the sky, perhaps in an effort to remember other details. Sakura watched with interest. "I was forced to learn taijutsu, but I wasn't very successful," he chortled, scratching his head. "You're a kunoichi, aren't you?"

Sakura nodded, waiting for his onslaught of questions.

"It must be interesting. Very few females go into that field of study,"

"I'm more of a medic-nin though," she offered, shrugging. "I study under the Hokage." Huyu gaped at her, impressed.

"The _Hokage_? You must be terrifying on the field," he joked, nudging her. Sakura shared his amusement.

"I'm guessing you've heard about her, then."

"Who hasn't? The first female Hokage. Maybe you'll be the next."

"Highly unlikely," Sakura shook her head, smiling easily. "I don't have nearly enough skill."

"I'll spar you one day, then we'll see. I'm quite advanced in ninjutsu,"

"Tell me about fire release," Sakura said in an attempt to start a conversation. Small-talk with Huyu was difficult– it died easily, and the struggle to pick it back up was usually in vain. She would much rather do the listening than the talking. Fortunately, the boy immediately launched into an animated explanation, leaving no room for any comments made by Sakura, much to her relief. She was left to shop as Huyu tagged along, gesturing with his hands the intricacies of fire jutsus.

"It's almost beautiful," he awed, sounding breathless. The statement brought Sakura to a day when she had been out wandering the crowded streets of Konoha with Naruto, who had pleaded with her to come out with him.

"You do this flicky-wrist thingy and _whoosh_," he'd babbled, talking so fast his words had begun to blur together like watercolours, "wind comes out and you can cut _anything_. I'm serious! Sakura, are you listening to me?"

Sakura had giggled at his enthusiasm, "Tell me more," she'd asked, pushing her bowl of Ichiraku ramen to the blonde, who slid it closer to him gratefully.

"It's _beautiful!_" He cooed, flinging his arms about. "It's like... I don't know how to say it, but I'll show you one day! If the air conditioner in your apartment ever breaks, just get me and I can cool you off!" He exclaimed proudly, his thumb pressed to his heart.

"I don't think it works like that," she had rebutted, covering a hand to muffle her laughter at Naruto's antics.

"What about you, Sakura-chan? Do you know what element you're best with?" He'd asked, innocently curious. She shook her head. "Here, let's go find out!" They'd rounded the corner after he'd slurped up all the noodles and he purchased a pack of the special slips of paper. Both of them had made there way to a clearing in the training grounds, and he'd handed her one out of the pile. "Just hold it and concentrate your chakra to it," She'd done as he said and the paper crumbled into a loamy soil. "Earth!" Naruto had chided, doing what seemed to be a dance. Sakura found the element suiting for someone like her. "You should tell Tsunade-baa-chan!" To which the pink-haired kunoichi had dealt a rather rough blow (Not that she could tell.) to his head for calling her teacher's name so disrespectfully, "Maybe she can help you develop it. And then we can spar!" The blond rubbed his hands heatedly, obviously in love with the idea.

It brought a smile to her lips as she thumbed through the racks upon racks of casual yukatas. "What about Yuki and Kazuko?" She asked suddenly, interrupting Huyu in his passionate breakdown of the fire release.

The sandy-haired boy contemplated, thumb tucked underneath his chin. "Kazuko is fire, like me. Yuki is water, I believe. Suitable, don't you think?" And then he launched back into his rambling. Unbeknownst to him, Sakura had just extracted rather important information from him.

They browsed the district until sundown; by that time, Sakura's feet had began to ache, but it'd been a good day. The Prince helped her carry the numerous amount of bags and pouches. The girl had nearly exhausted her wallet, and she felt slightly ashamed. Hopefully she could store the things she had bought in the storage and then summon them when she got back home.

When both Huyu and Sakura returned to the castle, the sky was dark and murky, like a canvas that had had dunked into a river of black paint. The stars above their heads danced to an unknown rhythm. They stopped in front of the doors so that Sakura could receive her bags.

"Here, let me tie the necklace on you," he grappled for the necklace, pulling it out eventually. Sakura turned, glad that he couldn't see the heat that was no doubt spreading on her face. He pulled it around her and the flower settled perfectly, like a puzzle piece, at the hollow between her collar bones. She couldn't help but finger it as he finished the knot. But seconds later, she froze, stiffening as Huyu leaned forward, brushing his lips to her neck. "It's too bad we're both getting married," he murmured under his breath, running his hands down her shoulders.

"Y-Yeah, I guess," her voice climbed in octave, like a scale going up a piano. She squeaked when he pressed a kiss to her jaw. There was a clatter and a bang that made them both jump, and Kakashi landed rather clumsily beside the two of them, seeming to have fallen off the roof. Relief washed through Sakura in waves.

"Nice night, huh?" He said pleasantly, the orange book in his hand glowing like a light in the dark. Huyu backed away from Sakura.

"Very," Although frustration marred his inflection, "I'll just be going inside now. Good night, Sakura," with one last, lingering look, he turned away, the doors opening before him.

"Thanks," Sakura whispered, swallowing.

In a patient tenor, Kakashi chastised her, "It's dangerous to be out so late at night with boys," Sakura groaned, hitting her head against her palm.

"Don't make it sound so weird."

Kakashi chuckled, leaning forwards and reaching towards her neck. Sakura flinched, inhaling at the short distance between them before comprehending that he was examining the necklace. When he ran his finger against it, his uncovered eyebrow shot up a centimeter. "This is a chakra container," he vocalized, apprehension tinting his sentence. At Sakura's inquisitive cock of her head, he clairified, "It sucks up the chakra and keeps it there until it's broken, then transfers to the nearest energy source. It's an easy way to deepen a person's chakra reserve, if done right. It's already started leeching from you."

When he slipped a hand behind her neck, her lips parted at the sensation of his cold hand pressing against her. He noticed her quiet gasp and paused. "Everything alright?"

"Yeah," she choked, "just hurry up and get it off." She sounded out of breath. Looking a little disconcerted, he loosened the knot before pulling the necklace off from the front. The edges of the petals had turned into a light wisteria. He cupped her hand in his, placed the necklace in it, and then curled his hand so that hers surrounded the jewel, effectively crushing it. Sakura emitted a noise of surprise and annoyance. "What was that for?"

"You want your chakra back, don't you?"

Admittedly, a sense of peace momentarily rushed through her, starting at her heart and spreading out. Kakashi had his eye on her knowingly. "Thank you," she credited for the second time that night, gazing longingly at the powder in her hands.

"I'll get you another one in Konoha," he suggested, resting a hand on top of her hand. Sakura's head shot up at his offer.

"Really?" When Kakashi nodded, she lifted herself up on her toes and tilted her head to make up for the 8 inch difference before pressing a quick kiss to the jonin's cheek. "You're the best," she smiled cheekily before walking into the castle.

Kakashi blinked. _What just happened_?

* * *

When he stopped at their room, he hesitated before turning the knob. Sure, the storm had blown over from their last 'encounter,' but they both knew that just because they didn't acknowledge it didn't mean it wasn't there. If this kept happening, there would come a point where it couldn't just be ignored anymore.

Then again, the action had seemed chaste and guilt-free. The quick, innocent kiss had most likely meant nothing but what she'd intended it to be– a thank you.

It didn't surprise him how flighty the medeic-nin's emotions were; it was like a pallet of colours– numerous and confusing. Some colours were just slight variations of another, but still something completely different altogether. Were all women like this? And how had Shikamaru discovered this amazingly enlightening fact before any of them had?

When he'd finally gathered the guts to open the door after reassuring himself, Sakura had just managed to pull a short kimono over herself, pulling it at the hem to cover her thighs. It fell to the middle of them, making her legs look a tad longer than they already were. She turned her head at the creak of the door, only to look back at the mirror (Although reddening.) when it was only Kakashi. The piles of bags strewn across the floor had his mind reeling. With a shake of his head, he entered the bathroom, exiting with nothing but a pair of boxers and sweats on.

"I could use this on a femission, couldn't I?" She joked, referring to the shortened term for females-only-mission, aka seduction mission.

"Not short enough," Kakashi said briskly, taking out his book and falling onto the bed. The comforters crumpled under his weight and pressed against his naked back.

"I hate those things anyways," she grumbled unappreciatively, talking about the missions. "But they cover the rent."

"Do you realize how much like a hooker you sound like right now?"

"_Kakashi!_" Sakura scolded, stepping out of the outfit. Kakashi's jaw dropped, only to learn that she had shorts on and bindings winding up from her navel to just above her chest. _No wonder she seemed especially flat today_, he noted. "Tsunade-shishou sends me on way too many of those kinds of things. And these, too. Marry him, don't worry it's only for so and so days, blahblahblah," A sour look crossed her face. "The one with Lee was the scariest," a notable shudder ran through her, and she made a noise out of pure trepidation.

Curiosity peeked in Kakashi. "How many?"

He put his book down and observed as Sakura looked to the ceiling, searching through her head. "About 7-10 femissions, I think, and..." She counted on her fingers before giving up with a sigh, "most of the guys I know, I've been on a mission like this with them."

"Lee?" Nod. "Kiba?" Nod. "Neji?" Nod. "_Shikamaru?_" Nodnod. _How does that even work out? _Kakashi wondered in astonishment. "Naruto?"

At that, Sakura recoiled. "No. I don't think I'd be able to, either."

"Why not?" _Interesting_.

"It'd just be so awkward, 'marrying' my brother." A disgruntled look crossed her face, and she rubbed the arm hanging at her side. "And I don't know if Naruto still likes me or not, but that could always get in the way."

"Ah. Tsunade seems to be pushing you to your limit." Kakashi put simply.

"I guess. I think it's the same way for Ino though, God knows she's much better at these things than me."

"Ino...?"

"The one who use to be obsessed with Sasuke, too."

"Aah," he sounded. The blond girl who used a mind technique. He'd always found her a rather provocative person with no boundaries. A fun person to play with but probably not someone fun to commit to. Perfect for the missions they were discussing. Sakura on the other hand... he didn't quite understand what the Hokage was thinking, but she had her reasons. Maybe it had relations to do with her student's aesthetically pleasing build. What guy wouldn't? Her legs were long enough to please without making her seem tall or gangly; her upper body wasn't too short or too long. Her trim waist flared gracefully into her hips and her stomach was flat. She didn't possess an hourglass figure, per se, but she was curvy with enough fat on her to make her look soft and welcoming instead of skinny and bony.

It took him a moment to notice that his eyes were inching up her body the same way that most men's eyes crawled along her body, the same men that Naruto so despised. Sakura must have noticed this too, because she slowly folded her arms across her stomach. "Kakashi?" She said softly, sounding timid.

With a sigh, he flung an arm over his eyes. "Sorry, there was something–" His weight shifted as the bed creaked, and he reached out to balance himself. But when he moved his arm, his breath caught. Sakura was bent over him on her knees and elbows, her hair cascading to one side of her head and falling short of Kakashi's face.

"Kakashi, I don't know what this is," she started, biting her lip. "I don't really know what's going on between us," the medic continued softly. "But all I know is that I want you," Kakashi swallowed. "And I'm pretty sure that you want me." And then she pulled his mask down with a finger and pressed her lips to his.

Heat radiated off her body in waves, warming his torso. The kiss was tentative at first, as if she was testing and gauging his reactions. When he ran his tongue against her bottom lip though, she opened almost as if by reflex, coaxing it in further with her own. He lifted his hands and skimmed her sides; Sakura purred into the kiss at his move, leaning into his touch and then bending back to sit up. He followed, neither of them breaking the heated exchange. She took his hands, guiding them back down her body, stopping at her hips before releasing them and hooking her hands behind his head, pressing herself to him so that her lithe form molded to his lean one. He groaned and she couldn't help but moan lightly at the delicious vibrations that resonated through her.

Her head was starting to spin from lack of oxygen, but she didn't want to be the one pulling away; no, especially not with the way he was teasing her tongue. She bit down gently on his bottom lip, and Kakashi broke away with only a short whimper from Sakura, who shut up when he pressed kisses down her jaw. Her hands grabbed for his shoulders, sliding down to his chest as she tilted her neck so that he could continue down.

He wasn't sure exactly how it had happened, but he wasn't going to question it. His hands searched for the beginning of her bindings but gave up, settling with tearing the bottom half and loosening the rest of them considerably. He slid his hands up underneath the bandages, brushing his thumbs against the bottom of her breasts. The small gasp she let out had his balls tightening; he decided not to fight with temptation and flicked her nipples, smirking against her skin when she jerked, her hands curling into fists against him. He did it again, not expecting her to grab his hands– but she did, and she pressed his palms to each globe, squeezing. The medic inhaled sharply, her breathing suddenly very, _very_ broken and uneven.

In a heady cloud of lust, he flipped them over. "Fuck, Sakura," he murmured, voice low and deep.

Sakura let out a short burst of laughter. "That's the idea," she said shakily. Her face was a conglomeration of conflicting emotions– her eyes and eyebrows were screwed shut and together, a perverse mix of pleasure and frustration. She had her bottom lip between her teeth, rubbing and gnawing it into a dark pink.

He towered over her, holding her by her waist and pressing kisses down her stomach, getting closer and closer to the spot Sakura _so_ wanted him to be at. Her tiny mewls and moans had him drawing his eyebrows together at the room in his pants– or lack thereof, in his case. Lifting himself, he brought himself back to her collar bone, kissing, sucking, and licking until it left an astounding hickey.

"You–" She panted, grabbing his hand, "tease," she meant to lead it to the aching apex of her thighs, but he chose that second to plant his mouth over her cloth-covered nipple. Her breath left her with a cry, and she arched off the bed, her foot slipping on the silk covers. She knocked Kakashi's knee out from under him in the process, bringing him down with her–

And grinding his erection against her wet core.

Kakashi's eyes shot open the same instant that Sakura clapped a hand to her mouth to staunch her moan. His Sharingan spun wildly. For a second he had no idea what he was doing, but when he caught sight of the kunoichi underneath him with her bindings strewn haphazardly across her skin and her chest rising and falling in an erratic staccato, it hit him like a Chidori to his gut.


	7. Chapter 7

**(THIS FIC HAS UNDERGONE A TITLE CHANGE!)**

_Originally: ReArranged_

_Currently: A lesson in arithmetic_

a/n: In these past few days, I've watched 2 Naruto movies and a bajillion Naruto episodes. Even though the last two are more of Kakashi's episodes. Kakashi Gaiden is the best! I fell more in love with Kakashi, hahaha! But besides that, it gave me an even better idea of the plot to this story.

This chapter was so hard to write (But I had a lot of fun with it!). I even had part of another chapter written before I finally started this one... -sigh- That's how this whole entire story is coming along. It's like a screwed up puzzle. I write all these other little bits and pieces and then I have to find a way to fit them in. This is gonna be a bigger project than I ever intended.

Lastly, there's another great KakaSaku fic you should check out if you haven't already! It's called **A Lesson in Chemistry**. I know, our titles are similar. I came up with the name change while I was writing an excerpt for the last chapter. Sucks to be me. D: But that fic is amazing and the author is amazinger. :D It's in my favorites, I believe. Oh, and a caution to the wary– future title changes _may_ happen.

Well, finally, the next update. I'm sorry it took so long and I'm sorry that it's this short. But I'm pleased with it, considering that I've never written any action scenes and that I pretty much suck at them, too.

**Save Your Heart**

_Save your heart  
For someone who leaves you breathless–  
And I know that you're scared;  
Seems like someone said you had it in you (are you scared?).  
All along you said you knew this was wrong  
But still worth dying for._

_And you give (and you give),  
And they take (and they take),  
And it's love that you want  
But not love that you make._

_Save your heart  
For someone that's worth dying for–  
Don't give it away,  
Don't give it away._

It would be a lie to say that it was easy to force Sakura away. With every moan and pant, he found his resolve crumbling just a little more. But no– he couldn't make the same mistake twice.

"Kakashi, _please!_" She begged, arching her back.

He growled, forcing her down flat with an iron grip. "This is wrong, Sakura,"

"Funny, you weren't saying that a few minutes ago," she replied flippantly, still struggling. "In fact, you seemed pretty... excited," she grabbed the tent in his pants.

Kakashi swore. The look in Sakura's eyes clearly spoke, _if _that_ doesn't untie you, nothing will_. And honestly, her ex-sensei was hanging by only a hair now. But when he slid off the bed, Sakura deflated visibly.

"Why?" She breathed, dragging a hand across her face. Kakashi didn't bother replying, knowing there was no right answer to her pathetic question. He fell onto the floor, sitting with his elbows propped against his bent knees and his laced fingers at his lips. "_Why?_" She repeated miserably, choking on the word. He heard the comforters wrinkle and glanced at her from the corner of his eye. Sakura had turned onto her side, away from him. Silent sobs wracked her supple frame. Quietly, in the way ninjas were trained to be, he stood up and left the room to find a private bathroom.

He didn't know about Sakura, but he had unfinished business to attend to.

**

* * *

**

This seemed to be happening a lot lately– 'this' being the picking apart of her self-esteem. Noiseless tears dripped from her lashes, running down the bridge of her noise before they fell to their doom and splashed against the pillow, which now possessed a small, damp puddle.

No. She wasn't even going to bother this time– she'd had enough with the mental beatings. Something was obviously just wrong with her, no matter what other people reassured. What did she expect? She had pink hair, for God's sake. Mustering the strength to get up and yank on the nearest shirt, she fell back onto the bed.

Closing her eyes, Sakura managed to drift into a fitful sleep. She dreamed of grabby hands and pretty girls taunting her before falling into her normal nightmare.

**

* * *

**

The cold water in Snow was cold and effective, needless to say. Kakashi toweled his hair dry; droplets of water still clung to him, but he let them be.

It was late and nobody was up, but the halls were illuminated brightly by the lights that never seemed to turn off. Shirtless with nothing but his trusty sweats on and a towel in his hand, he made his way up the stairs lazily, taking his sweet time.

When he reached the door, he did a double-take. _Odd_. It was open an inch, swaying lightly from the gentle breeze of the air conditioner. Letting himself in, his blood froze at the sight before him.

The rug on the floor was torn, each side flung carelessly across the room. The hidden hatchway had been forced open, by the looks of the splintering wood. Blood streaked the flooring on the edges, as if somebody had put up a fight and tried to grab the brink. A few strands of pink hair were scattered across the room.

_Sakura! _His heart gave a particularly sharp thrust. _No. Don't panic. You don't have time to screw up. Think think think! _Grabbing his weapon pouch, he leaped down the opening, simultaneously tying the bag in place. A single kunai spun around his finger before he caught it by the haft, making his way down the tunnel tensely.

Even with his Sharingan activated, it took him a while to navigate through the maze. In the end, the thing that had led him to where he needed to be was the faint scent of oranges. Thankfully, it was strong enough for his nose (Which rivaled Kiba's but paled in comparison to Pakkun's.) to pick up. A rope ladder dangled from a light high up in the ceiling.

"Lookie here!" A tinny voice gasped, hands clapping together exuberantly. "It's my favorite guy," Peering down the hole was Yuki, clad in a slick black suit that clung to her like a second skin. With a flip, Kakashi hopped off the ladder, taking in his surrounding.

_A ballroom_, he noted immediately. The ornate glass chandeliers looming over his head would come in handy if a fight were to break out. The ceiling was high, probably 2 or 3 floors off the ground, he assessed. The marble floor was slippery, even with his sandals on. He would have to find a way to negate the slip that the ground would definitely create. Spinning slowly, cautiously, he faced the other end of the room.

Shallow stairs lined with shining, caramel-coloured banisters led to a large, smooth platform. His eyes drifted in horror to the tall, glass cases that dotted the wall. In each case was a girl. One sparkling, clear chamber in the center of the party had been emphasized with a lining of gold and gems adorning the rim around it.

It was empty, but the dainty plaque beneath it was clearly labeled _Sakura Haruno_.

As if to prove a point, there was a stifled cry. The kunoichi was tied to a colossal throne, looking as if she was about to be swallowed by the red cushions pillowing the back and the seat. If the situation wasn't so dire, the sight of her would have been somewhat humorous: Sakura was wearing his large, gray sweater; it stopped at the middle of her thigh, and she had one sleeve pushed up her forearm while the other dangled off her hand a good number of inches. Red welts textured her wrists and bare legs from the rope, and a pretentious crown had been fixed to her hair. She was shaking her head furiously, unable to voice her opinion from the cloth gagging her, but her eyes were wide with fright. It was then that he noticed the dark crescents under the pools of green that hadn't been there just an hour before, as well as the string tied around her neck– A thick black string dangling a large pendant _smack_ on the center of her throat. The entire rosary was blue, save for the core, a pinpoint of which was clear.

Safe to say, a majority of Sakura's chakra had most likely been sucked away into the little cage.

"Pretty, aren't they?" Kakashi swung his arm at the voice behind him; his attack was deflected. "How rude," the Prince droned, dropping the nin's wrist with a mild look of disdain, his nose wrinkling. "They don't quite compare to the beauty on that seat though," When he winked at Sakura, she grimaced and cursed at him loudly, even though it came out sounding fuzzy, like a radio that hadn't been tuned to the right station. "Feisty," he laughed loudly. After making his way up the stairs to Sakura, he ran his hand through her hair, taking a strand and twirling it before letting it fall.

"Just another pretty body to add to my collection," Huyu sighed in content, stooping over her. Trailing a finger from her cheek to her chin. He grabbed her chin gently, turning it so that they were eye to eye. "It's a pity that I have to kill you. I'd hate to snuff the life out of those eyes– they're half of what makes you so beautiful," exhaling again with a hint of anguish, he straightened up. "Come to save the damsel in distress?" An amused smile stretched across his face.

Yuki sat in the midst of it all, yawning from boredom. She could have cared less about the Prince's obsession. "It's finally nice to see you with your mask off," she droned, picking at her nails. Kakashi's hand reached up– sure enough, his comfort zone was missing. He'd left it in the bathroom. Or was it the room? "I was on the verge of just tearing it off myself," she laughed dryly. Her voice sounded misplaced, too childish for the words she was speaking. Getting up from her seat on the steps, she strode over to the jonin, collecting chakra in her palm. Her height just barely reached past his chest.

Chakra bounced from one hand to the other, streaking through the air. She smirked. "I can't wait to beat you until you're unconscious, drug you, and then..." she blushed, but her words lacked even the slightest morsel of pudency, "I'll have my way with you," she giggled coyly, closing the distance between Kakashi and herself. The Princess dragged a finger down his chest to the band at his pants, dissolute. Her fingers hesitated, as if debating whether to dip in or–

Kakashi bounded backwards when she attempted to knee him. Not risking a split second, he made a mad dash to the throne, slicing through the tough rope binding her arm to the armrest with a well-sharpened kunai.

"I can't finish untying myself without chakra_behindyou_!" Sakura said in a single breath.

"Crush the necklace crush the necklace," he chanted, parrying each of the Princess's well-aimed blows. Sakura fumbled with the charm before she finally clasped it tightly and slammed it to her chest. It shattered, and the blue energy soaked into her. Her raccoon-eyes dissipated, and she ran a hand through each knot, successfully freeing herself.

How she accomplished the task of pulling his shirt down so that it covered a modest amount of her body while reciprocating punch after kick with Huyu, Kakashi would never know.

Their backs met, banging against each other. "I forgot to tell you," _pant, pant, pant,_ "Yuki's got an affinity for water and Huyu's got one for fire," Kakashi nodded, even though Sakura couldn't see it.

And then they plunged back into the fray, Sakura barrel-rolling to her right so she wouldn't get hit and Kakashi sliding under Yuki as the Princess tried to stab him with a needle. A lilac liquid squirted from the tip.

"You!" Sakura gasped, pausing to point before dodging Huyu. "That poison! You tried to kill me!"

"A round of applause for the medic," the Princess drawled, never once taking her eyes off of her target. "Wanna chance a guess at the dango, too?"

The pink-haired girl seemed to morph into a monster before everybody's eyes. Her hair crackled with pent-up fury, and her eyes shone with a murderous intent. "I'M GONNA _KILL_ YOU!" She thundered, cold-shouldering the boy who was assaulting her in favor of the sleek girl taking on Kakashi. "SHANNARO!" Chakra seemed to burst into her hands as she launched one fist into the ground and another into the wall beside her. The tile and stone cracked, breaking the earth and jutting out. The entire room shook, breaking with the single blow. Kakashi bounced off one of the pieces just as Yuki came sliding. Said girl hit the rocky terrain with a shriek, thrown about by the force of each thud. The room was slowly falling to pieces; it would cave in if they didn't get out within a few hours. A few minutes passed before the victim lifted herself up shakily, pure venom rolling off her in waves. Cuts and scrapes danced on her skin.

"You just made me break a nail," she seethed. A barrier of water spurted up, coming from below the ground due to a pipe. "You're gonna _pay._"

"Don't screw with me, _bitch_!" Hurling towards each other, the explosive cat fight began.

"I guess it's just you and me," both males watched with mild interest before turning to each other. Kakashi broke into standard stance by reflex. When he rolled his shoulder, it cracked. Although Huyu was flexible and sidestepped advances easily, he was weak. A single chakra-punch would easily have him unconscious. It crossed the genius's mind that the reason the floor was so slippery was because both his opponent and Sakura's could easily elude each attack which meant–

"Sakura," his voice carried across the room, echoing off the smooth walls. "Break up the floors some more!" As if on cue, the girl commanded slammed her palm to the floor, evenly distributing her energy. The marble vibrated, emitting an eerily high note before the tiling crumbled to a fine, gritty sand. As soon as he spotted an opening, Kakashi landed a roundhouse kick to the boy.

His head snapped back with the force of the kick; it was ironic how fast it was over. Coughing up blood, he smirked, a dry laugh escaping his lungs feebly. "Better watch out, I'm not done yet," but his orbs dulled into a lackluster greyish-blue. _What was that supposed to mean?_

Sakura slammed into the same side as Huyu, back snapping taut at the force; Yuki cackled, spheres of water growing in her hands. "Had enough yet?" Her voice grated on his ears. "Cause I'm not done!" With a thrust of her hands, the water release bolted away from her palms. A blitz of rain drops volleyed against the medic, forcing the breath out of her lungs. Blood trickled out of the corner of her mouth.

"Kakashi," she wheezed, calling out to the nin. He turned to her, pressing a hand to her side. She winced. "Think I've broken a rib, help?" Lifting one of her arms, she sent the chakra to her fingertips. They glowed green as she ran them over her skin, eyebrows drawn in intense concentration. When she finished, she stood up, wobbling dangerously. "It's weak, but it'll hold for a little bit–" The pupils of her eyes shrunk, and she dropped to her knees.

"Sakura? Sakura?" Kakashi shook her. When she broke into deafening screams, he jumped. This was suddenly becoming all too familiar. His grim suspicion was confirmed when Sakura began to scream.

"No, no, Naruto! No, no!" Her hands curled so tightly that they turned white like paper. Kakashi's breath caught when blood started leaking from inside her grip. Her nails had cut through her skin.

"Sakura, there's nothing there–" the words wouldn't come out. His jaw wouldn't move. But he saw the forest and the fire and terror flickering in his teammate's eyes. This was what Huyu had meant.

"There, there," a voice cooed. A hand stroked his back. "I've paralyzed you for now, don't worry about her, she'll be fine,"

He was dragged further and further away, watching Sakura, helpless to her illusions. Watching as the girl so many people feared for her sheer, brute strength fell to the floor, curling in on herself and screaming, "I didn't kill you, I didn't kill you, Mama, Papa... It wasn't me! Please, please, I didn't start the fire!"

His vision faded to dark nothingness, blanketing him in a false sense of security. But her shrill cries were still ringing in his ears, even in the void.

**

* * *

**

"You're awake!" With a swish of long, lavender hair, she disappeared into a room that Kakashi assumed was her bathroom. Sure enough, she came out a few minutes later with large towels in her hand.

"How long have I been out?" He refused the towels.

"Only 15 minutes. I rehabilitated you as soon as I got back," she was injecting a new needle with another fluid. The light shined off the silver point ominously. With a snap of her gloves and a swish of her long, lavender hair, she was straddling Kakashi, tool between her fingers. "If you cooperate, this won't hurt a bit," the small girl licked her lips.

Despite the way his muscles were screaming, he caught her wrist, turning her onto her back and officially turning the tables.

"You weren't supposed to do that!" She screeched, flailing.

"Well, I just did."

"No! I mean that you're cells are still regenerating! When I paralyzed you, the poison I use kills your muscle cells. They're going to _mutate_," she spat, "and you're going to _die!_"

"But then you can do whatever you want to me."

A look of utter horror masked her face. "I'm not a necrophile!"

"Could have fooled me," Kakashi mumbled. "Tell me where Sakura is."

"Pinky's still down there," she rolled her eyes. "Why is everybody so obsessed with her? Even Taku-" A hesitant pause before continuing, "Kazuko thinks she's pretty. Anyhow, it doesn't matter anymore. Nobody can take that form of mental torture. I guess if there was one thing Huyu was good at, it was killing people without scarring them– _physically_. Then again, he had to, what with his fetish for girls," distaste marred her words. Then she looked her captor up and down. "If you're going to hit me, just do it." She finished cattily.

"I don't like hitting girls," _Bull!_ Sakura would have yelled if she had heard. _What about all those times you hit _me_?_

"A gentleman _and_ a hotty!" Her eyes glittered. "I sure bagged one this time!"

With a droll exhale, he snapped her wrist so that the needle fell from her grasp. "Maybe not," the poison injected itself perfectly, and when her body slackened in his hold, he let her go, ready to look for the ballroom.

As quickly as he could, he retraced his steps. He left the Princess's room and returned to his own, going back down the hole and remembering his turns, thanks to his Sharingan.

The once beautiful ceiling had split open, one half crashed somewhere in ruin. With it, a torn piece of the platform wall, bringing half the collection of girls down. Sakura lay among the rubble, coiled as tightly as possibly. The sight of her eyes and the sound of her silence had a feeling of dread bubbling in his throat. His heart pounded too hard for its small confinement.

He kneeled down to check her pulse; it fluttered like a butterfly, but relief washed over him, crashing like a wave against a rocky cliff. There was still hope, and that was all that mattered.

"Ka.. ka.. shi?" His heart went out to her when she swiveled her gaze to meet his. Death had decided to play with her tonight and play he did, leaving her completely shaken. Her head dropped like a weight. "I hope I'm dead. Please let me be dead." Tears trickled soundlessly down the kunoichi's features.

"Sakura," he expected the worst from his words. "You're not dead."

Her eyes closed. "I seem to be asking 'why' a lot in these past few hours," she croaked, content with laying on the cold battleground. She'd been thoroughly roughed up.

Kakashi sat in stillness with her, wondering what she was thinking. Maybe she'd fallen asleep? But her pale eyelids fluttered open.

"Can you turn me over?" She grunted, wincing at the pain as he tried to jostle her as little as possible. Healing herself as quickly as possible, Sakura forced herself into a sitting position, slumping. They exchanged no words, just got up and left, leaving the desolate room with its spouting pipes and weak walls.

"The layout is symmetrical." No matter how he tried, he couldn't bait a single response out of her, not even when he lightly pestered her. It was hard to ignore the heavy way she carried herself, trailing after him like a mourning spirit. It thoroughly creeped the jonin out, and he did not get creeped out.

It occurred to him that perhaps Sakura could still be mourning from their unfinished night together, and the unbidden memory that had been forced upon her had only added to the stress. In an attempt to loosen the atmosphere, he shot her his normal eye-crease and said with as much humor as he could muster, "crazy night?"

But she remained withdrawn, immune to his taunting. _This must be what it feels like to hang out with me_ he mused darkly. All he wanted was to restore the peace between them– return to the playful banter and light mood before two nights ago. That was proving impossible. Maybe he just had to try harder?

He jumped when the ghost behind him spoke. "I know what you're thinking. Please don't," she looked at him, but her eyes were far away and distant. "If it weren't for the fact that you'd definitely catch me, I wouldn't hesitate in throwing myself off this floor." With that said, Kakashi seized her wrist.

"You're not dying on me, Sakura," his voice was hard, and Sakura watched with dull eyes. They made it to the second floor, and Kakashi leaned hazardously over the railing lining the edge. "It's clear," he murmured before gripping her hand and jumping down with a flying leap. He landed with the grace of a cat, but Sakura bounced on the balls of her feet, appearing dazed and listless.

"Leaving so soon?" Both Kakashi and Sakura snapped to the smooth voice, hands tightening around their weapons, Sakura's fist a smidge looser than her ex-sensei's. Kazuko sprang off the baluster, landing easily before them. "You haven't even experienced a taste of our hospitality yet," he chided, looking remorseful. "But I'm afraid I can't let you leave with that scroll," Without delay, he drew a katana, slashing at Sakura, who back-flipped to avoid it in the nick of time. She slid further until her back hit the wall.

"Kazuko?" She blurted in confusion, her disinterest in the world momentarily on pause.

"You could call me that," he shrugged, rushing at her. Just as he was about to go in for another swing, Kakashi jumped in front of Sakura, stalling him with his kunai. "Or you could call me Takuto."

"No way!" Kakashi's companion hissed from behind him. Bruises dotted her skin and cuts dashed her surface, but she look all the more intimidating when her surprise turned into rage. "Of course! I should've guessed, especially after that night in the dungeon."

"You're too smart for your own good!" Takuto chided, making a helpless gesture. But his face had a smirk plastered on, and he looked unruffled. "People like you annoy me. You fit the pieces of the puzzle together _far_ too easily for your own good," His cloudy blue eyes narrowed. "But I'll give you a chance. Hand back the scroll which I know that you haven't opened, and I'll let you off." A wicked grin spread across his face before he lunged at the pinkette.

_Damn, he's fast_, Kakashi cursed, lifting his hitae-ate. The Sharingan spun madly, blurring into a haze of red and black.

"Not a chance," Sakura managed weakly, gripping her dripping side. Wincing, she hissed in pain. When she released her hand, it was covered completely with blood. "Huyu blocked my chakra, too," she inhaled, only to let loose a spasm of coughs, each one releasing more blood than the one before.

"Just avoid his attacks for now and stay behind me," somberly, he dragged her behind him. His physique covered hers completely, blocking her from any frontal attacks. "If he attacks from the back, do whatever comes to your mind." With a nod, they were off.

With Sakura's current stamina and state of mind, it was hard to keep up with her ex-sensei, but she made it. Although living was the last thing on her mind, the only thing keeping her alive was the hope that maybe she'd see Naruto again, _maybe_...

She was broken out of her revere when the katana sliced a mere inch away from the tip of her nose. Strands of pink hair floated through the air in the seconds following, and Sakura stumbled back into Kakashi. _There, it's coming! _Inner Sakura howled, swinging her fist wildly.

Without thinking (This was probably the stupidest thing she'd ever done. _Ever_.), she grabbed at the blade with her bare hands, squeezing. The pain barely registered in her adrenaline-buzzed mind as she swung the weapon to her right. There was a cacophony of clangs, and the weapon lodged itself into the stone floor.

Sakura fell to her knees, nursing the deeply cut hand. Her breathing was deep and slow, mouth agape before promptly clamping shut. The damage had caught up to her body. _I can't use my chakra! _She panicked. _I'm losing too much blood!_ Add the effort her body was making to get blood to her heart plus all the over-excitement, the amount she was losing was enough to leave her dead in the next hour. _C'mon c'mon c'mon_, Inner Sakura fought the dizziness, slamming her hands against the walls of her host's mind, pushing against them as they closed in on her.

"_Sakura!_"

_What a familiar voice_, she wondered aimlessly before a bucket of black was dumped on her for the second time that night, dark ink dripping into her field of vision. Inner Sakura fought desperately, beads of sweat rolling off her forehead. _Don't you fucking dare–! _Then the room collapsed, and a sigh of relief found its way out of Sakura. But no, Inner Sakura wasn't having any of it.

"Sakura!" The familiar voice was louder, and she groaned, rolling in who-knows-what direction. In that instant, her inner shot out of the rubble, looking none too happy with her host. _Get yourself the fuck up the floor, or I'll make you!_ Without so much as a whine, Sakura picked herself up in a daze. _Press those point-thingies Tsunade taught you about! _

Oh. She'd forgotten completely about that. It was a good thing she had her inner (No, who was she kidding? She'd do anything to get this _thing_ out of her head. Although Sakura had come close in her training with Tsunade, the manifestation of her true feelings had never really _completely_ left.).

"One," she jabbed her thumbs harshly on two points behind her ears. "Two," her thumb and pointer finger against the area just below her collar bone. "Three." Same fingers but right under her jaw. Immediately, her entire body tingled. _Sweet_, she sent chakra to her hand before healing her gushing wounds. Kakashi was currently lodged in a battle of taijutsu with his opponent, having had his kunai knocked away earlier.

"He's too fast," he grunted as he flashed past her, blocking an onslaught of attacks.

Rushing to the katana, she drew it easily from the stone. It was heavy in her hands and the silver was tainted by the red of her blood, but it cut cleanly through the air. Almost as if a blessing had been placed upon her, Takuto leaped towards her, landing with his back towards her. Without a moments hesitation, Sakura shoved the katana through her enemy, dropping the hilt in shock as a rose of rouge flowered through his yukata.

Doubled over, he turned to glance at her. His eyes gleamed with surprise, but he said in a smooth tone, "I hope you make your parents proud, _Sakura_." Takuto laughed, his last words dying like a flickering flame. "You wouldn't want them to have burned in vain, would you?"

Stepping back, her head bumped the cold wall. The hand covering her mouth shook so fast it looked like it was vibrating.

"Good job," Kakashi stated nonchalantly, wiping his hands on Takuto's robe. At the look on his ex-student's face, his lips tightened into a straight line. "Get use to it." Then he pulled her out the castle gates, lifting her into his arms when she lagged behind like a weight.

As soon as he stepped onto the soft, unstained snow, the palace behind them groaned loudly. The ground seemed to quake. Sleekily, Kakashi bound ahead, leaving footprints that would soon be covered with new, fresh snow. The ice-tower shuddered before tipping dangerously to the side. Slowly, it fell apart, and Kakashi continued onwards, the once beautiful piece of architecture meeting the ground. With its departure came (Or went, in this case.) its lights as well, and it was pitch black.

The sky was still dark (In fact, it showed no signs of lighting up anytime soon.) when they found a place to hide. A clearing that had Sakura all too wound up for her own good. "I'm sorry Kakashi, can we please–" Her ex-sensei sighed, searching for words to reassure her. Crouching down, he let Sakura down. When they seperated, they realized exactly how cold they really were.

"Sakura, it wasn't real. You know that. It was just–" _a memory_. He swallowed his next words. _There's gotta be a better term for it_.

"A memory." Sakura finished for him, bitterness colouring her statement.

"A... memory. Something that's already passed."

Her eyes flashed. "Don't remind me," she flared. "If I'd just been there, if I hadn't left to do whatever it was that I was going to do, it wouldn't have happened. It would be a different memory playing in my head every day. If I had stayed just one more second, I might have saved them. They would still be at home, waiting for me to visit them, and I wouldn't have broken down in the ballroom. If I'd just–"

"Sakura," Kakashi looked up at her, the firelight casting an orange glow on his face. He pulled her down. "You signed up for this the moment you enlisted in the Academy. They died the way they wanted to."

"How do you know that? How do you know that they weren't cursing me? How do you know that they still _aren't_?"

"No. They died for you and the village. How else would those two rogue-nins have been found unconscious under your window? If your father hadn't launched the spell tag at them, who knows who else would have died."

And then she collapsed in his arms, sobbing so hard that the sleeping birds flushed out of the tree in a frenzy. Her hands fisted his vest, shaking vigorously. "Every night– _every. Fucking. Night.– _I have the same nightmare," she yelled, caring less about her surroundings and the possibility of being overheard. "My mom telling me if I'd just stayed for breakfast like she'd asked me, she would still be alive, and my dad saying that he hadn't expected me to save him anyways...! And the hate in their eyes, Kakashi... _it kills me_," a sharp inhale of breath followed by another sob that she tried to control, but only to choke out more, louder ones. "And then I see Sasuke leaving and then Naruto next, and lately, I've been seeing you, too, and I can't let you go– I can't, because you're the last living, breathing reminder of Team 7 around, and if I lose _you_, I just know I'm going to lose myself!" She grit her teeth, breathing in a slow, shuddering breath, voice quieting, "I just _know_."

Heavy breathing ensued. She swallowed her tears, keeping her voice strong and unwavering. "You know what I've learned?" Her death grip relaxed a fraction."It's amazing the amount of pain the human body can handle," with a dark chuckle, she looked up to the stars, her tears finally spilling over and leaking out of the corner of her eyes, sliding down, down, down. "You'd think I'd know that, training under the greatest medic-nin alive. But I'm just starting to learn. And I've learned that you can have your heart broken more ways than out of dumb, stupid love. I'm not even sure I can call this messed up piece of crap a heart anymore." Her voice cracked, but she retained her composure. "It's missing too many pieces.

"I'm not sure if I'll ever be able to fix myself, but you're the closest thing, Kakashi." Rising to her feet, she turned towards the fire. "I'm not asking for much, just that we can still be friends. Tonight, what happened– let's just forget about it. It was a mistake. But I can't let myself be left behind anymore than I already have been, and I hope you understand that."

And when she turned to leave, Kakashi grabbed her wrist, dragging her down one last time. Without thinking, he caught her lips with his own. Her tense body shuddered before easing into the kiss, following his movements. It was an easy kiss, no tongues, just his masked lips against hers.

The night was cold, but her entire body felt hot. Pulling away, cheeks flushed and eyes cloudy, Sakura blinked owlishly. Then it hit her like a train. "Don't. Please don't do this." Swallowing thickly, she rose, walking back to her side of the fire with a stricken look on her face.

When he heard the rustle of the distant bushes signify that she was hidden away, he heaved a sigh, pressing the heels of his palms into his eyes. Kakashi swore, his hands sliding down and covering his entire face, mask and all. There was no way he could have let this happen. When _had_ it happened? He was sure it couldn't have been all those empty moments. It surely wasn't all those mistakes she and he had both made. What was this then? How could this have happened when there was absolutely no time for it to have happened? And why wasn't he making any sense?

He could see the stars twinkling brightly and dancing mockingly down at him through the spaces between his fingers.

He, Hatake Kakashi, had fallen for the broken and half-hearted mess that was his ex-student, Haruno Sakura.


	8. Chapter 8

a/n: oh my gosh. oh my gosh. oh my gosh. oh my gosh. I'm freaking out right now.

I've had this plot (that I wish was original but I'm not sure but in my head it is) in my mind for months and months and months, and I was just thinking, "alright, when I finish my current fic I'll start a new fic with this," but once I reread THIS fic, I was like, "WHAT THIS FITS PERFECTLY HOW CAN THIS BE I CAN MAKE THIS WORK! I. CAN. MAKE. THIS. WORK!"

SO I'LL BE BACK ON TOP OF THIS FIC! I don't remember where I was going with this fic before, I only remember one very clear scene in my head. But my new idea, oh man. Oh man. I can't even I'M SO EXCITED GUYS

Alright. So let's start. Also, I haven't written creatively for a long time (I've been getting back into the feel with my other two fics, but once I reread this I could tell how much I'd lost my touch…), and I can tell my skills have decreased. So hopefully I'll really just be able to get back into it with this.

edit* I realized I made some counting errors (I'm not sure if anybody else noticed)... so I edited the chapter and here's the accurate one.

**Chapter 8**

"Did he say he'd love you forever?"

"Yes."

"Did he say you were his one and only?"

"Yes..."

"That he'd never leave you, even if you were old and ugly and couldn't tell this from that?"

"Y-yes... Actually, those exact words-"

"That lyin', cheatin', good-for-nothin' BASTARD!"

Sakura guarded her untouched cup of sake from the furious fists of her shishou. A shiny rock glittered from her ring finger— the _only _thing that glittered on Sakura. Her eyes lacked their usual sparkle and she hadn't showered for five days, which was showing itself in the way thick strands of her hair stuck together, probably from grease and any other grime the shin obi life entailed.

"Lemme see that-" The usually collected blonde was grabby and gabby, reaching for Sakura's arm and pulling her fingers into the moonlight pouring in from the large windows behind her. "Tsk tsk," she clicked her tongue in disappointment. "Cheap, cheap. You can see the impurities from a mile away. Why didn't you teeelllll me, Sakura? Oh no." Even through her liquor-induced stupid, the hokage could see the dejected limpness of her tutee's head. "Don't tell me your hanging onto that ring. There's no hope for men— for trash like that, girl."

Sakura was too ashamed to admit that the rock was a material manifestation of her .0000001 percent hope that Tsuji would see through his idiocy and come running back to her. "We were engaged, shishou," Sakura sniffed plaintively, twisting the silver ring around and around her finger.

"Oh for Hokage's sake. There will be none of that in this office." Staggering to her feet, Tsunade hefted the girl across from her out of the seat she was planted in. She pulled the ring off the miserable pinkette's finger and closed her own digits around it; Sakura squeaked. When her palms opened, the only thing left of the memoir was dust. Sakura drew in a rambling breath. "Now go shower, you're beginning to smell. I have a bathroom here-" she threw her student into a broom closet and closed the door with a _bang_.

Sakura spent the next few seconds in the musky dark pondering whether it was possible to drown herself in cleaning fluid. The door flew open with a loud _thud_.

"What are you doing in there, you silly girl? The showers are that way!" Her shishou was pointing out the window, but Sakura got the point— Tsunade was too drunk to function— and began her trudge through the building, across multiple streets, and cranking the knob to her own apartment shower.

"Cheers," Sakura muttered under her breath as she stood idly under the spray. "Third times _not _the charm."

* * *

_Not this again_.

How long had she been standing with her back facing the hot spray of water from the shower head? Not long enough for the water to run cold, it seemed, but long enough to be on person number 17 out of 21 of her dating track list.

How did this happen?

No, scratch that.

How did this happen… to _her_?

She was supposed to be Sakura Haruno, best medic in Konoha second only to the Hokage herself, pummel-er of enemies and highly respected kunoichi. So how had she dated _21_ guys, _7 _of which had cheated on her, and _3 _she had been engaged to?!

Was it the pummeling? It had to be the pummeling. Males must have been intimidated by her power. But she couldn't just give up her _life _skill! And she wasn't a slut. The thought of that almost made her cry. Honestly, what was wrong with her? It wasn't as if she was throwing herself at males.

She had to get out of this shower. Before she turned into a prune or suffocated in the humidity. But more importantly, before she went crazy and drowned herself in the sink or something. Her arm reached out of her laminate spring green shower curtains, grabbing blindly for her towel on the rack before succeeding. In one swift motion, she wrapped the soft, microfiber around her, revelling in its warmth (and not pretending that it was anything like a lover's arms).

God, when had she fallen so _far_?

This was her 5th shower in two days now. After the whole drinking fiasco with her shishou— in which she hadn't even put her lips to her cup and her mentor had practically _eaten _the cup— she'd been showering maniacally since that night, as if washing her skin clean would also wash her memories and regrets clean. At her lowest, she'd smelled like garbage. But now, she smelled like she belonged in a mental asylum.

It had been a year and two months since the seemingly successful but emotionally _disastrous _mission she'd shared with her ex-sensei. She'd jumped from one guy to another (4 in total) after that, hoping that one of them would purge her of the feeling of Kakashi's skin on hers. It had worked— for 6 months.

And then she'd gotten _engaged_.

Which quickly followed with her becoming _afraid_.

And then, a week ago, she'd been browsing through the weaponry shop on the edge of the market plaza when she'd seen her _fiance _walking into a _gentlemen's club _in _broad daylight_.

She fucking hoped he thought the black eye and broken rib was worth all the trouble.

"You've gotten frigid," he'd whimpered, cowering, "I didn't think you'd care, 'cause you're tough about things-"

And Sakura had never been so piss-angry in her life. As if engagement jitters was something to cheat about, as if simply being a ninja meant she didn't have _feelings_.

But when she'd chucked him in the hospital— he so black and blue he might've been confused with an exotic animal, she so red that she looked as if she'd burst into flames at any second— she'd promptly broken into tears in the middle of the dirt road on her way home. And all the while, Tsunade had already gotten wind of what had gone down. Needless to say, the poor bastard wasn't getting any special treatment from the nurses.

Everything had just been going so _wrong _since that mission. _It's the fucking mission_, she kept telling herself as she slathered lotion up her leg. She was a mess. Her life was a mess. A tragic, pathetic mess.

"Holy _shit!_" Sakura yelped, the little tin of lotion flying from her hand and landing in a heap on her carpet. Skittering to the window where an ANBU crouched silently, she clutched her towel to her form (you could never be too sure with the elite-nin), wrenching the glass upwards. As aesthetically pleasing as the masks were, they were no less eery, especially when you couldn't see the eyes behind them. "You owe me for that, Naruto," growling, she pointed at the puddle situated on her carpet— an accurate representation of her life right now, she couldn't help but note.

"Aaaw, Sakura-chan," his thumb reached under the white clay, flipping the black and red fox, with its sly and curling smile, up over the side of his head and revealing a sheepish smile and clear, cerulean blue eyes.

6 months after returning from what Sakura dubbed "the worst thing that had ever happened to her," (better known as "the mission with Kakashi" for the laypeople around her. Not that she had ever told anybody— not even Ino.) Naruto had returned. And, shortly after, Sasuke. There had been celebration- too much, in Sakura's opinion. She swore she'd been hungover for at least 5 days, and then, in the process of healing her friends who'd also been hungover, experienced something like a chakra-induced hangover as a result of expending all her chakra too many days in a row. From the partying, Sakura had drawn the conclusion that Naruto had a separate beast, not the Kyuubi, deep within him— some sort of _monstrous _party animal— and that Sasuke would eternally be a stick in the mud.

_Sasuke_. Just the thought of him exhausted her. All the tears spent and time wasted being afraid and genuinely broken for him as a friend, only to be greeted with a short "hn," at the gate. She'd gone home and cried her heart out, Naruto fiddling with his thumbs and patting her back all the while. It had taken months and months of service for him to get in the good graces of the village, and even now he was still monitored heavily.

A soft wind breezed through her open window, tousling the blonde's hair and chilling Sakura to the bone, who was still wet from her shower. _Speak of the devil_. A mask with an eagle painted with thick, black brush strokes peered over Naruto's shoulder. "We've been summoned to the Hokage's office."

"That's what _I _came to tell her!" Naruto whined, his angry face comical and childish. The whiskers on his cheeks seemed to wiggle in annoyance, and his hair was practically bristling.

Sasuke sighed heavily, looking ready to leave. "Too slow, dobe."

"_You-_" Spluttering, Naruto started to retort, but Sakura cut him off with a roll of her eyes.

"You two go ahead, I'll meet you there in a few minutes." Sasuke, without a second glance, bounded into the air, seeming to teleport away. Naruto turned quickly to follow, only to hesitate and look back at her. The horizon backlit his frame, making him glow, and the blue of the sky brought his eyes out. It almost broke Sakura's heart, for some reason.

"You good?" His voice was gentle, kind, and something in Sakura threatened to collapse. Her throat began to close up, so she hastened to speak.

Smiling, she ruffled his hair and repeated to him what she'd been trying to convince herself for a long, long time. "I'm fine, Naruto. It's just a stupid _boy_."

He could see right through her, but smiled back in return. "You gotta stop dating all these _boys_, Sakura-chan. Only a _real _man deserves you." With a cheeky wink and a loud _I-can't-believe-you-just-said-that _groan from Sakura, he leapt off the ledge, disappearing into the bright, noon sky.

It took only 10 minutes for her to finish her after-shower routine and gear up. Despite her half-dried hair hanging limply off her shoulders and the dark circles ringing her eyes, she was determined to step back into normal life. _Step by step, Sakura. You'll make it. It's just a stupid boy_.

And step by step, she did make it. To the Hokage's tower, at least. Where she opened the door to her mentor's office and found Naruto and Sasuke and-

_Kakashi._

Their eyes met, her breath left her, and she instantly lost her footing, tripping over her feet. _So much for step by step_.

She saw the wary eye of her shishou, who was probably assuming she'd gone out drinking to swamp her sorrows and was now suffering the repercussions. Flushing viciously, her eyes never left the floor as she inched up to the line of males.

Without another beat, the Hokage began, looking frighteningly neutral. "I hope you all know how much I hate resurrecting this team," nobody looked at Sasuke, but everybody knew it anyways, "but…" Suddenly, her expression seemed strained and uncomfortable. "Something has… popped up."

They waited for her to continue, but the silence that followed was suffocating. Tsunade's fingernails rapped against her mahogany bureau, something of a nervous tick that Sakura was aware of. Whatever this issue was, it must have been _seriously _bad. The tension in the room was tangible, and it seemed that everybody was waiting for something to spontaneously combust. It seemed like an eternity before the busty blonde spoke again.

The famed Sannin stared pointedly at Kakashi. "The Hidden Village of Blossoms called." Then her liquid amber eyes sidled to Sakura. "They want their princess back."

Two things happened at once: Naruto looked at Tsunade looking at Sakura, then _he _looked at Sakura, and shrieked a deafening, glass-shattering "_WHAT?!" _just as the door slammed open with a disproportionally loud _clang_, an extremely disheveled Shizune announcing her presence with a panicked, "_they'rehereandtheywantherNOW._"

"_Shit_." The blonde swore, slamming a fist onto her desk. "How can they expect me to respond on such short notice!" Pounding her hand against the wood again, the poor, abused piece of furniture jumped a foot into the air, and she jabbed a finger at Kakashi. "_You _know everything that's going on. I'm leaving it to you."

"_What _is going _on_?" Sakura managed to exclaim before her arms were abruptly pulled from her sides and locked behind her back, as were the rest of the team's, and they were all knocked out.

* * *

She was being dragged somewhere. Sensation was slowly coming back to her. Wherever she was, it was dank and musty, while also a bit warm. _I'm dead and they're burying me_. _I must be having an out of body experience_.

Her body was limp, and she could feel herself being arranged into a sitting position, hands still fastened behind her.

"Put the other three in the cart behind her," a thickly-accented, masculine voice commanded from some distance away.

The voice that replied spoke from right by her ear, scaring Sakura out of her wits. "Not this one. They said this one's her escort."

"Awright," the former man, voice gruff, conceded. "Let it be."

By now, she'd opened her eyes, only to realize she'd been blindfolded. The fabric was soft against her face though, tied as if they didn't intend to harm her. Some sort of rhythmic creaking filled the air, as if millions of people were walking in a line and gravel was crunching beneath the soles of their sandals. Without warning, thick, grubby fingers began wrestling with something at the back of her scalp, and the handkerchief around her eyes slipped away. Well, at least she thought it was gone; it was still completely dark around her… save for something that seemed to be right in front of her, glowing a faint, white light; she reached to feel it, only to remember her hands were tied behind her back.

"Sorry sweetheart, we're not allowed ta give you yer hands. Heard yer kind was dangerous wiff 'em." As aggravating as the situation was, there was something strangely kind about the people handling her. In any normal situation, she would have kicked their asses with her legs alone, but for some reason, she felt compelled to wait for some sort of explanation. Her only conclusion was that they had drugged her. The weight of the carriage shifted as the man stepped about, and a weak light filtered through the burgundy (she thought they were burgundy at least. But everything looked brown and red in this lighting.) curtains as an incredibly burly man stepped out of the vehicle. Then, the light disappeared, returning Sakura to darkness.

Her attention was averted from her kidnappers, however, when the shade of light in front of her that she'd previously noticed began to rustle. Then, it cleared its throat. Then, she heard it breathing lightly. Then, she realized "it" was Kakashi, and her entire body seized up.

"Relax," he chuckled. "I can practically feel the tension from here."

No response. The number of emotions swirling in Sakura at the moment was innumerable, and she didn't trust herself to speak. A warm hand settled on her knee, and a flood of fury washed over her. She'd practically _begged _him to stay friends with her. She'd tried so hard to mend what had been messed up. But all he'd done was take advantage of her vulnerability, and then feed her to the wolves. Thank God Naruto had come back. _Don't cry don't cry don't cry_-

Skirting her knee away, she spoke quietly, hating how her voice cracked in the middle of it. "Please just tell me what's going on."

For a moment, they were both utterly silent. He opened his mouth, as if ready to speak, only to clamp it shut again; Sakura knew that he'd felt the need to address, perhaps label, whatever it was going on between them, and she was glad he'd chosen not to. It would probably be a lot less painful if he just drove a katana through her.

Another second passed before he began with, "do you remember Yuki?"

An entire slideshow of the mission panned through her mind. How could she forget? Everything about that time had haunted her.

"She wasn't actually the princess of Snow. Yuki was being detained there for some time by another country, in the hopes that they could later utilize her as a 'stand-in' queen for their own country because their current successor has been sickly for a while. Unfortunately, she was, ah, _dispensed of_ a year and two months ago, and the country only received news of it a few months ago—news travels slow there. They want to see the perpetrators."

"Are you kidding me." Sakura deadpanned, looking him dead in the eye, completely unamused. But his eye, completely somber, said it all for her, and she felt her heart drop a mile a minute in her body. Soon the cardiovascular muscle would leave her, and she'd be heartless. _I can't take this. I can't handle this. I need to go. I'll jump out of this caravan and sprint somewhere far, far away. Nobody will know where I am, and nobody will ever find me. _Pushing herself up, she was slightly jostled by the cart moving over uneven ground. Kakashi, predicting her next move, reached for her.

As he grabbed her hand, a jolt of electricity shot up her arm. Gasping, Sakura pulled away, cradling her arm to her chest and glaring at him accusingly. "_What did you do?_"

Confusion writ itself on his face; it was clear he had no idea what she'd felt. _Figures_, she thought dryly. _I'm always the only one who thinks there's something there when there isn't._

It occurred to her that Kakashi had stretched his hand out to her- "_you're not bound!_" Narrowing her verdant eyes at him reproachfully, she waited for an explanation, watching the curtain shift out of the corner of her eye.

The fleetingly sad look that passed his eye moved some part of her heart before she smothered it as if it were a dangerous fire—which in her eyes, it was. "I don't need to be," his simple response was unsatisfying, and Sakura made her opinion known by shooting him another incensed glare.

"Let's talk," he offered amiably, leaning back against the wall of the caravan they were in.

"There's nothing to talk about it," she replied coldly, smoothly.

"Tell me about how your man-diet went," he chided.

He might as well have gutted her with a kunai, and Sakura wondered if Kakashi was mentally handicapped. But for one second, there was a flutter of activity in her stomach at the thought that Kakashi had remembered— he'd _remembered!_— one of their little jokes from that mission. Quickly stomping out the feeling, she grit her teeth, willing herself not to wrench his head off his neck. "I haven't even been trying and it's worked out fantastically," she snarled back bitterly. If he was going to pour salt on her wounds, she was going to make him feel as guilty as possible. "6 failed relationships since the jackass who decided to lead me on."

"Sakura-"

"Just don't, Kakashi." Stonily, she cut him off. "I understand, alright? It was just too much. You haven't had a relationship since Rin, and here I was, some student of yours who you hadn't talked to in years, getting all weepy on you. If I were a guy, I would've done what you and every guy has done. Run. Far and fast. I get it. I really do.

So we don't need to talk about it. We don't even need to mention it. As far as _that_ is concerned, it just didn't happen." When she was done, she seemed to collapse in on herself, her entire body sagging into the velvet cushions as if giving her little monologue had exhausted her very being. Somewhere along the way, a tear or two had slipped down her face, and she hoped to God he couldn't see it through the dark with his Sharingan. And she couldn't even wipe them away, given the man across from her had heightened senses and would probably deduce right away what was happening. But no real sense of panic rose in her until the carriages bounced, jostling the curtains and shining a light on their faces. Turning her face quickly to avoid being caught red-handed, she caught a glimpse of what was outside—dirt. Lots of it.

There was also several individual carts, pulled by horses and oxen, trailing behind them in what appeared to be a _tunnel_, and she remembered the two men discussing Naruto and Sasuke, who were sure to be right behind them. She wondered briefly if they were having as awful as a time as she was, before being interrupted by Kakashi, whose voice was the picture of unease.

"We're heading to the Hidden Village of Blossoms, if you're wondering."

The confusing thing was, she'd never heard of this village in her life. Surely such an esthetic name would've stuck in her brain.

"Nobody in your generation will have heard of it."

_Ah, well, that settles it._

"The Village of Blossoms doesn't produce shinobi. They have a reputation for their geisha—which is why they travel underground, because they can't be exposed to the sun—but when the second war ended, there was a resource tussle. They were considered obsolete because nobody could afford what they had to offer, and now only the elite of the elite know about them. And that includes ANBU, on the unlikely case that Hanagakure needs shinobi to sort their matters." As an afterthought, he added, "I wouldn't be surprised if the Hyuuga clan knew of their existence."

Breaking her short vow of silence and trusting her voice enough not to break, she piped up, asking, "why the secrecy?"

"They've just gotten use to it. I guess it works to their benefit," shrugging, he fished his iconic book out of his vest, flipping deftly to a page. The cover was worn down, the image practically rubbed off until all that was left was the word 'Paradise' and a man who was (_conveniently_, Sakura mused) missing his nether-regions, chasing after a women who was without her torso completely.

An awkward silence fell between the two, as they attended to their own activities. Kakashi read his beloved "novel" while Sakura fiddled with her fingers. Her ears perked as the faint sound of arguing floated through the air. Sasuke and Naruto were at it again, picking up volume, and it made her smile.

Hours passed, and she dozed off, falling into an uncomfortable fit of sleep. She was awakened abruptly by a loud voice ringing through the passage and a startling crack of a whip. Sakura looked at Kakashi with wide eyes, alarmed, and pointing to the ceiling, he answered her unasked question. "Going up." Sure enough, a second later, the cart seemed to tip, and Sakura slid to the end of her seat. Yelping, she grappled for purchase with her bound hands flailing about, only to realize that she was in no danger of falling out. Glancing at her ex-sensei, her hopes of him not seeing were dashed as he watched her with an indecipherable look in his eye.

They broke earth—at least, that's what she thought—within the hour; Sakura could tell by the light streaming in beneath the curtain and the smell of fresh air, tinged by something sweet, that they were no longer traveling underground. Kakashi's composure in a completely foreign land unnerved her, and for the next few hours she sat on the backs of her hands, expecting to see the king and then be beheaded for killing his daughter. It would be a sad ending to an even sadder life.

The cart jarred to a stop. Sighing, Kakashi picked himself up and left, and Sakura, staring after him with astonished eyes, tentatively lifted her own body up to get out. But alas, it was not so, for the hefty man from before emerged through the cloth, holding his hand out to her.

"Turn around, please. Yer hands?" Nervously, Sakura gave her back to him, rubbing her wrists when the binds were off. They were red from chaffing, and her shoulders popped when she rolled them after being held stiffly in one position for hours. _Feels so good_, she crowed internally, basking in the simple sensation of being able to move her hands and arms.

With renewed vigor, she hopped out of the cart, ready to face her death with the freedom of being able to move, only to come to a complete stand still at the sight before her eyes.

Lush. Lush was the only word to describe what she was seeing. Greenness that rivaled the shade of her own eyes, flowers everywhere, some that were the same hue as her hair. Sunlight poured through the high, thick canopy, splashing everything with dapples of light. Naruto stood, equally amazed, and Sasuke, albeit with a completely uninterested look on his face, stared intently at his surroundings. The buildings didn't rise very high—the tallest were only half the height of the trees surrounding them—but their humble appearances emphasized the beauty around them. She'd only been here for _5 minutes _and she was already completely in love with this place! Oh, she could definitely die here. She'd die happy.

Her mind only then registered the hoards of people lining the path, all the way past her line of sight. They were beaming and watching her, and she felt the heat rushing to her face. Embarrassed at her over-reaction, her boiling enthusiasm cooled to a simmer, and she waved demurely. Speaking out of the corner of her mouth, she asked Naruto, "why are they staring at us?"

Looking at her quizzically, Naruto answered uncertainly. "They're not staring at _us_, Sakura. They're staring at _you_."

She looked at him, baffled. "What are you talking about?"

His puzzled look deepened for a moment, but then concern replaced his features. "Didn't you see the way obaachan was lookin' at you back home? You're-"

"The Princess!" A little girl was dragging her parent by the arm, pointing at Sakura, the look on her face practically _begging _to get close to her. "Please please pleeeeaaassseee mommy please please I wanna see her hair I wanna touch it plleeeaaaseee!"

And then an overwhelming panic started to bubble in her. Looking frantically around, she searched desperately for who the little girl could be pointing to, but to her horror, Naruto was right, everybody _was _staring at her, and suddenly, Hanagakure didn't look so beautiful anymore.

Kakashi seemed to be the only one noticing the trepidation growing in her eyes and falling smile, and he grabbed her elbow gently to tug her back into the carriage. "Aaah, I hate to be the party-pooper, but it looks like our princess is a bit tired from the journey." He smiled at the crowds, gracing them with the typical, patronizing curve of his eye, before snapping the curtains closed with a single pull. When he turned to face her, she was breathing quickly, pupils dilated.

"What the _hell _is going on?!"

"I haven't been entirely truthful with you-"

"_No shit, Sherlock-"_

"Sakura, you need to calm down-"

"_I can't calm down, how could you even ask me to calm down-_"

"Sakura, trust me-"

"_TRUST you?!_"

That seemed to be her breaking point. No tears fell, but she curled into herself, raising her feet onto the seat so she could rest her forehead on her knees. It was muffled, but he heard her never the less. "Trust _you_?"

There'd been many times when Kakashi had ever felt desperate; really, he was no stranger to it. It had always been in a moment of battle, deciding what to do, who to save and who to leave behind, who to sacrifice and who to sacrifice himself for. But never had he been so desperate for somebody to trust him. People always trusted him simply because of who he was… and it was heartbreakingly ironic to think that who he was was the reason why Sakura didn't trust him. He instantly regretted every moment he'd spent avoiding her after the mission a year ago.

The tension shattered when Naruto stuck his head through the veil, looking from one to the other uncertainly. "Ummm…" clearing his throat slightly, he looked at Kakashi, since Sakura had her head down. "They're getting antsy."

"Tell the carriage drawers to bring us to the castle. And switch carts with me while you're at it, Naruto-"

The kyuubi-container suddenly looked incredibly uncomfortable, shifting his weight from foot to foot. "Err, actually, the mission mandates that you're to be her escort and _obaachanmademeswearnottodosomethinglikethatsouhI'l ljustbegoingnowbye!_" A cloud of dust appeared where he had disappeared. At least he'd dutifully performed Kakashi's other request, because the vehicle jerked to life within seconds.

The two of them spent an hour and a half in excruciating noiselessness. She hadn't changed her position at all, and he hadn't touched his classic go-to book. "Sakura-"

"Kakashi," she spoke through her knees, fingers digging into her calves, voice taut with strain. "I just want things to be better."

Any words he'd intended to speak left him. He knew she didn't mean her love life, or her social life, or her skills or work or apprenticeship. For years now, she'd been in a state of limbo, trying to find a rhythm in her life again, but failing because of the weight of carrying her parent's death on her shoulders. And she could only be hoping right now that this whole princess-thing was a hoax.

It dawned on him then that he hadn't _actually _succeeded in his ultimate goal for avoiding Sakura—that is, choking out the feelings he'd developed for her: the feelings that having her trust, seeing her laugh and smile, seeing her work and most of all work with _him _gave him.

He'd thought he had. But no. He hadn't. Because if he had, he wouldn't want so badly right now to have it all back.

* * *

"Maaah, who do they think they are, stepping all over Konoha and taking our Sakura and saying she's a princess!" Naruto griped, pouting with his arms crossed. "She can't be their princess! The only princess she is, is _mine_!"

"Didn't you see everybody's hair?" Sasuke quipped. "I stand out like a sore thumb."

"I was too busy looking at the scenery like any normal person would've done," Naruto jabbed back.

"Everybody's hair here is about as exotic as Sakura's."

"Is that a _compliment_?" At that, Sasuke eyed the obnoxious blonde warily.

"Is what a compliment?"

At the sight of their pink-haired teammate, both boys clammed up. When they'd gotten off the horse-drawn carriages to walk the rest of the path up to the manor, Sakura had sped to the front of the line, conversing with the guards and servants. They'd pick up on her desire not to talk to her team very quickly.

"Sasuke here was just admiring your hair colour," Naruto said snidely, grinning beatifically at his companion, who shot him a dirty look. Hearing that, Sakura eyed Sasuke as if disturbed by his sudden out-of-character-ness.

"Well, I came to tell you guys that we've arrived at the gates. We're waiting for them to open- oh. There we go." The sound of grating iron resounded through the forest, flushing birds from the trees. Feathers dropped to the ground, stirring with the dust and wind. It was eerily quiet,

until a loud sob cut through.

* * *

The queen was still drying her eyes with her sleeve as Team 7 stood awkwardly before the elephantine thrones. Precious stones of varying values littered the furnishing, ivory was tucked away in every possible corner, and the seats themselves were gilded— everything just _glowed_. All this, offset by the beauty of the woman before them. Her thick locks pooled at her waist, engulfing her tall, elegant frame, their shocking shade of magenta bringing out the shades of warmth in her skin. Her deep blue eyes were rimmed with red.

Through a shaky breath, she managed to eek out, "almost 20 years since I last saw you." Her voice was surprisingly high, as if a young girl had been stuck into a woman's figure.

The girl she was addressing stood stock-still, her voice was equally as stony. "I'm sorry. There must be some mistake." Yet despite the monotonous quality of her voice, her curled fists gave away her apprehension, and anxiety radiated from her body as if she was a space-heater.

"No," the queen whispered back, gaze piercing. "Your hair colour is exclusive to the royal line in Hanagakure."

Sakura fought to reply, brain fumbling hysterically for _some _rhyme or reason. This was just too much. Her? Royalty? Something must have gotten mixed up and this was all some stupid error, because she _couldn't _be a princess. She couldn't even keep a boyfriend for more than three months. She could barely cook herself a meal, not to mention retain her sanity, for God's sake—

"It's been an exhausting ride," Kakashi interjected, his polite and calm voice out-of-place in the stressed setting. "Perhaps it would be better for us to rest before anything else is said."

"Are you her friend?"

Scratching the back of his head, the ex-ANBU smiled sheepishly. "More or less. I've been assigned as her guard while she's here."

"Ah, well. I suppose you're right. Please, follow our servants. Kirito?" A man in a navy Yukata with white trim stepped up to her, bowing deeply. "Guide them to their rooms."

Sakura seemed to need some encouraging to budge, and Naruto provided selflessly, guiding her by her elbow. Despite his generally impartial attitude towards his female teammate, Sasuke fell into step beside the pair, looking as concerned as his aloof countenance would allow.

"For the princess—" Kirito bowed and held an arm out to the opened paneled oak door. Nobody reacted, but when Naruto pushed Sakura along, a frenzied light flashed through her eyes as she realized _she'd _just been addressed. "—and the escort, whose living space is behind the cove to the right."

Unlike the throne room, the bedroom they'd entered was significantly less furnished, more cozy, and provided less of a statement of wealth. The bed fit two people comfortably, but three was a squeeze. Sure enough, an open archway led to a simple living space with a few couches and large french doors that hid a grand balcony before revealing another room with a single bed, plainly furnished, and a bookshelf with countless copies of a certain nin's favorite read.

"It was furnished to your liking," the butler commented.

"Ahaha, thank Chiharu-hime for me, please." His abashed smile indicated his pleasant surprise.

"It was the least she could do for your services."

Sasuke's dark eyes bore into Kakashi as he analyzed the exchange. When Kirito turned away to guide Naruto and Sasuke to their rooms, Kakashi's affable facade dropped, and he returned the young man's look with all seriousness.

As Naruto fussed over Sakura's well-being ("Sakura-chan? _Saaakuuraa-chan? _Are you ok? Are you gonna be ok? Can you say somethin', please? Sakura-chan, you're scaring me…" And all his beloved Sakura-chan could do was nod mutely.), silent understanding seemed to pass between the other two comrades. Turning tactfully, Sasuke left the room. For a minute, Naruto skittered back-and-forth between his friends, completely lost on whether to continue comforting the medic or leave her be. The latter won out, as he apologetically followed Sasuke out, promising he'd be back for her in the morning.

"You really should sleep."

Without saying a word, she crept into the bed fully dressed and turned her back to him. He didn't leave until her breathing slowed to resting pace and the covers lifted and sank with each deep breath.

* * *

He woke in the middle of the night, sensing that something was wrong. Moonlight from the balcony snuck into his room, casting a light upon his hair as he pulled his covers aside; a waft of chilly air met his bare legs, prompting him to pull on a pair of sweatpants as his eyes adjusted to the curiously bright darkness. The double French doors were swinging lightly, the veils that were supposed to be covering the window panes fluttering in the breeze. Behind the entrance on the terrace, a comforter sat in a pile, hiding a girl. Wisps of pink hair peeked out of the tight little cocoon.

"You'll catch a cold."

She only hugged the blankets tighter to herself. The stars were peeking through the dark leaves, bright and numerous over her head, but her posture clearly demonstrated that her interest in the hot balls of gas was nonexistent.

He leaned against the doorway, arms crossed, patiently awaiting any sort of response from her.

Crisp, white linen rustled against her skin as she shifted. "I had the nightmare again. But this time when my mom asked me to eat breakfast, I did. But they still died. I still couldn't save them." Her voice betrayed no emotion.

"I can't imagine that this is anything but a nightmare, Kakashi. I keep hoping I'll wake up soon back in my bed in Konoha. But the longer I'm here, the more _afraid _I get. If the queen is my mom, who were those people in Konoha? Who was the woman I killed? Who was the man I left for dead? Who am _I_? And if I acknowledge this as a reality… everything I've ever known is going to turn into an _illusion_." She finished quietly, closing her eyes and lifting her head, smiling in a bittersweet way. "Fate seems to love playing sick jokes on me. When I'm willing to spill my guts to any poor person passing by, that person always happens to be you. And as much as I don't trust you, you're still here, I'm still talking, and you're still listening."

"You're overwhelmed."

"I wish it were as simple as that," she replied dryly.

"Go to sleep."

"Trust _you_ to try to solve a problem in three words. Forget it, I didn't say anything. This never happened. Go back to bed, Kakashi." Her criticism ended with a squeak, however, when she felt herself being lifted.

He'd disregarded her nasty little insults, choosing instead to scoop the pile of bedding-plus-girl in his arms and then deposit it on her bare and lonely-looking mattress. Sakura's pink head of hair popped out of the lump, looking indignant. "You can't do that to a princess!"

"You can't play the princess card if you don't believe it, Sakura," Kakashi chided from his seat on the very edge of her bed. She flushed with displeasure, scooting back towards her pillows.

"If you were in my position, you'd be less of a jackass about this. As it were, you will always, eternally be a jackass."

"I don't see why you're having such a hard time grasping your royalty. You certainly seem to have the vernacular down."

Hair bristling, she chucked a pillow at him. "Why did it have to be _you?_ Why couldn't Naruto or Sasuke, hell, even _Sai_ be my guard? Two of them are already here, anyways!"

"Naruto and Sasuke are just here for safety measures. Tsunade was under the impression we worked well together."

"_What_ made her think _that_?"

"We made it out of our last mission intact."

"I've finished _plenty _of missions intact. And we didn't talk _at all _after _that_ mission. Was she not picking up on the hostility between us? It was _pretty _obvious you were avoiding me." Her resentment grew with each syllable.

Sighing, Kakashi stood up from his seat, running a hand over his face and through his hair. If she wasn't so pissed off, the stretch and pull of his muscles in his motion would have been quite distracting. "I didn't come here to fight with you, Sakura."

"Don't act like you _chose _to come here!" She spat incredulously, glowering at him. "You've _never _chosen to be around me! I know you were assigned Naruto and Sasuke deliberately, and they just needed to fill in the third spot. And when Naruto and Sasuke left, you didn't choose me, either. That _mission _wasn't your choice, and when I asked to be friends, you very clearly chose 'no'." Through her teeth, she attacked him one last time. "I understood from the get-go that I wasn't wanted—it's too late to act like you cared enough to do anything with me. I don't need your pity."

She saw the way his eye flashed dangerously, yet it only made her blood boil hotter. If there was anybody here who should have been angry, it was _her! He_ was supposed to feel guilty, _he_ was supposed to see the error of his ways! He had no right to get defensive because _he _was the one who'd taken what she'd offered and ripped it to shreds in front of her very eyes for _one year and two months_. Every ignored greeting, every calculated avoidance—her wrath was justified. "Don't be so _arrogant_."

But when he slammed his fists into the mattress on either side of her, effectively caging her in, she couldn't help but to recoil. He spoke quietly, voice low and barely holding in his contempt, eyes dark with fury, rage simmering beneath his skin. "I'd like a picture of your face when you find out I _did _choose to be your escort here because I _wanted _to."

Ice-cold surprise flooded her system as Kakashi leapt off the balcony and into the night sky.

* * *

a/n: It ended up being much longer than I had planned. I apologize for any errors, I read it over many times, but I always seem to miss things anyways.

Reviews are much appreciated!


	9. Chapter 9

n/a: I completely understand if you hate Sakura. I'm very sorry. As I was writing the last chapter, I was like, "man, she sounds so whiny and self-absorbed. Everybody's going to hate her. oH WELL CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT" LOL so I really promise it will all get better.

Well. I hope so. LOL. Also, I edited the previous chapter because there was a counting error.

Also, _-heika_ is the honorific for royalty. I hope I'm using it correctly…

**Chapter 9**

"My, Kirito-kun! It's only 9 in the morning and there are already so many reports of dead livestock and fowl!" The queen's eyes were wide as she scanned the numerous files in front of her. Her sleeve inched down her arm as she held her hand to her mouth in awe. "Whatever could have happened?"

"I've no idea," the servant replied guilelessly, equally as bewildered as he placed a steaming hot dish of soy milk before the royal.

Sakura gauged this conversation with downcast, tired eyes while picking at the food before her. On the opposite end of the table, Kakashi appeared as well-rested and alert as he normally did (which was not saying much, what with his lone, droopy eye). Sasuke was eyeing the team captain warily and Naruto was completely oblivious, happily devouring anything within reach.

As the queen stacked the files together, tapping them against the table to ensure they were straightened, she sighed dramatically. "The days barely begun and already there's so much to be done. Tell me, Kirito-kun, when will my dear husband be back?"

"2 in the afternoon."

Sheer joy lit up her face, and she clapped her hands together ecstatically. "Wonderful, wonderful! We'll have a feast! A celebration! Prep the servants!" Her blue eyes roved the sparsely seated table, her effervescence countering the rather dour mood of her breakfast company. "We'll make it village-wide. Everybody in their best-dress." Just as she declared this, her gaze stopped at Sakura, who happened to be jerking a loose thread from the hem of her everyday, red vest. When the kunoichi looked up, she pressed back into her seat with surprise at the horrified expression on Chiharu's face.

"Nonono, this will not do. I'm sure none of you brought formal wear? I'll have the best robes prepared for the lot of you. We have the most talented seamstress in Hanagakure! She's sure to be finished by noon."

A heavy dread weighed down in Sakura at the thought of standing for hours with her arms out as a strange woman poked her with pins. Still, she forced a smile onto her face and injected as much enthusiasm into her voice as she could muster. "That sounds fantastic, Chiharu-heika."

Sakura remained oblivious to the suddenly dejected look on the Queen's face upon hearing how she had been addressed; not as a mother, but as a stranger to keep at arm's distance. But she said nothing, quickly gesturing for Kirito to send for the seamstress.

Setsuki came within the hour, geared with a plethora of tailoring tools that looked frighteningly destructive. A few younger girls accompanied her, carrying their own boxes of tools. Sakura could only assume they were apprentices sent to fit the boys.

Each of them was ushered into a separate room to stand on a pedestal, stripped down to their undergarments. Sakura stood rigidly with her arms out in only her chest wrappings and underwear, feeling agonizingly defenseless. Setsuki rolled out a large swathe of soft yellow-orange silk that was comparable to a sunset and wrapped it around the kunoichi's body, pinning it along the edge so that it hung off Sakura's frame. After draping more of the pattern off the kunoichi's arms, the seamstress stepped back with her hands on her hips.

Mirrors tiled each wall except for the one behind Sakura, allowing her a clear view of what she looked like. And at the moment, she thought she looked ridiculous. Setsuki, however, didn't seem to agree, as she had a pleased look on her face when she dove back into the fray.

As boring as standing around for hours was, it was fascinating to watch somebody work at something Sakura knew absolutely nothing about. Slowly, the dress came together, until all that was left was to tie an obi around her waist.

With the big, ivory bow in place on her back, Sakura spun slowly as directed. Setsuki _hmm_ed and _ha_'d until clapping her hands together with a smile. The shinobi took a gander at the mirror, momentarily stunned before walking up to the wall, closely examining the material engulfing her. A trail of cherry blossoms the colour of her obi, probably pre-embossed with thread onto the sunset silk, trailed across the hems of the gown. Their muted colour caused them to appear to disappear into the fabric, barely noticeable until closer inspection. The shades of colour complimented her hair, which Sakura swept up for full effect.

"_Stunning!_" Setsuki cheered, absolutely elated. "You're ready to go!" Without any warning, Sakura was pushed towards the door. Upon entering the main room again, she noticed the large grandfather clock smiling lopsidedly down at her at 1:50. _She's the best seamstress for a reason_, Sakura mused. To have finished a simple but awe-inspiring kimono in only 4 hours was pure witchcraft.

Naruto burst out of the room behind her shortly after, looking ecstatic. "Sakura-chan!" He crowed, clasping her shoulders and giving her a good once-over. "You look _amazing_," his grin was huge and toothy, but there was something disarmingly charming about the twinkle in his eyes. Speaking of eyes, whatever apprentice Naruto had received had transferred his eye colour to his gown perfectly, making the deep sky blue of his orbs shockingly bright. The fabric of his kimono was patterned with swirls one shade lighter.

Naruto tugged a little at his obi, looking confused and dissatisfied. "I asked if she could make the obi orange, but she just laughed at me."

Giggling, Sakura swatted his hands away and smoothed the cloth down, rolling her eyes. "You idiot. They usually don't even make men's kimonos in any colour other than black." As she pulled away, the door behind them opened, startling both Sakura and Naruto. Sasuke and Kakashi stepped out, both looking considerably hassled.

"She wouldn't let me read," Kakashi sighed, patting his hip. "But she had the good grace to include an inside pocket for me."

"I hate being touched," Sasuke deadpanned, making his way to the kunoichi. Both donned similar shades of dark blue, though Sasuke's was more blue-and-black whereas Kakashi's bordered on the grey-er side.

Eyeing both of them critically, Sakura's mouth pulled to the side. Dark fans (barely noticeable in the already dark material) tiled the snake-summoner's garb. Looking to Kakashi, her eyebrows raised. His had no design. "I think I prefer you in standard-issue gear," she teased, hoping to lighten the bad blood between them.

As his eyes ventured from her toes to her face, she suddenly felt incredibly self-conscious under his scrutiny. When their gazes met, she was disconcerted by the unfamiliar cast in his single grey eye. "I could say the same to you."

She _would _have been angry at his apparent insult if it weren't for that _look_. Something about the dark light in his eye told her he hadn't meant it the same way _she _had…

* * *

Her arms rested crossed against the balcony rail as she placed her forehead onto them, portraying perfectly an image of utter exhaustion. The sleeves of her kimono pooled at her elbows, very unlady-like. Sighing heavily, Sakura basked in the cool night, finding refuge in the only quiet part of the entire mansion. Behind the bedroom door, there was muffled cheering and shouting. It was good to finally be along.

"Yo."

The kunoichi started violently, shrieking loudly. With a hand over her heart, she looked in the direction of the voice. Kakashi looked at her with amusement in his eye. He was leaning with his back against the wall and his arms folded, hidden in the shadows.

Her heart raced as she composed herself, glaring at him. "You almost _killed _me," she dramatized, facing him, her hands grasping the rails.

"It'll take a lot more than that to kill you," he replied pleasantly.

Her eyes widened at his compliment, and she was filled to the brim with guilt. After a minute of figuring out what to say, she swallowed and opened her mouth to speak. "I know it doesn't mean much, but I'm really sorry about what happened last night." He heard her swallow again. "I'm petty, aren't I? I'm embarrassed that you had to endure that. But that's me. I can get very ugly, as you've seen."

"Nothing like first-hand experience," Kakashi joked back lightly. She eked out a laugh.

An inordinate amount of silence followed before Sakura cleared her throat. "I-I'm ready to call a truce. It's impractical to keep holding a grudge against you."

Nodding lazily, he wrapped his hand around hers, engulfing her petite palms with his own. He marveled momentarily at the amount of warmth such a small hand emitted, but quickly shoved it to the back of his mind. "I apologize for keeping you in the dark."

Her bark of laughter was uncannily similar to a certain blonde Hokage's. "I don't know why I expected anything else from you, really."

As harmless as the joke was meant to be, it hit a little too close to home for Kakashi. This sense of self-disappointment was foreign to him, and he couldn't comprehend why, of all times, he would suddenly choose to regret the image of aloofness he'd created for himself. "Is that what you three think of me?" He murmured.

He wasn't looking at her, so Sakura stared at him, bemused. "You've always kept to yourself."

"Have I?" Kakashi mused to himself, looking pensive.

Raising her pink eyebrows, Sakura stepped up to him and pinched the edge of his mask. Kakashi flinched, very unlike himself. The medic pulled the mask away from his skin before letting go. It snapped back into place. "As if your mask isn't answer enough," she said sardonically.

Looking entertained, he ran his hand over his mouth and chin, as if he had a beard and not a piece of fabric on the bottom half of his face. "If I show you something few people have seen, would it help de-mystify myself?"

Rolling her eyes, she mimicked his pose against the ledge. "I never called you a _mystery_, Kakashi." Then, she looked at him distrustfully. "And _maybe_."

Without introduction or hesitation, Kakashi pulled his mask down. Sakura blinked ostensibly before it seemed to hit her. Then her mouth dropped open.

"I- I- oh god- I-" The medic looked completely bewildered, her jaw hanging and seeming to flap in the air. "I'm- oh my- oh my gosh-"

He couldn't help but to smile at her antics, and that only made her stutter harder. "Relax, Sakura. I'm not _proposing _to you."

"_This is the same thing!_" His ex-student spluttered ardently, and he bursted out laughing. She leaned away dramatically. "Who the hell just _pops _this on their _teammate_?! Oh my _gosh_, I can see your _teeth!_" Perhaps the bizarreness of their exchange was getting to her, because she was beginning to smile, too. "Are you trying to kill me tonight, Kakashi?"

Shooting her a sideways look, he couldn't help but to remark, "you're acting like you've just seen a hideous beast. I know my good looks are inhuman, but I'm far from hideous." _Smirk, smirk_.

"Oh god," Sakura groaned. "If pulling down the mask pulls out your ego, I beg that you bring it back up. You must be drunk," she huffed, drawing near. "And to be honest, this isn't the first time I've seen it…" her voice trailed off a little as heat inched up her neck to her face. She began mumbling. "On that mission a year ago… we were rather… _liberal _with your mask. I guess the shock came from you being so voluntary about it. Every other time, I was either drunk, or I managed to fight it off you with my, er, _feminine wiles_." Pointedly avoiding meeting his gaze, she fussed around with the collar of his kimono.

He recoiled slightly when her fingertips whispered over his neck. "Don't want me falling for your _inhuman _good looks now, do we?" Sakura joshed awkwardly with a quirked smile, savoring her last view of his mouth before the mask swallowed it. When she peeled her eyes away from his mouth and to his eyes, he was watching her with that obscure look in his eyes from earlier.

The muffled cheering from before seemed to disappear, and something like static fizzed in the air. Whatever it was between them was starting to shake her nerves—it was unlike any of their moments on that forsaken mission a year ago. She had half a mind to pull herself away before something awful happened. "Sakura," Kakashi began. "I-"

The double doors slammed open, and bright light filtered through. Both shinobi squinted at the intruder. "We've been looking all over for you, Princess! Everybody's required to appear in the ballroom!"

Nobody moved until Kakashi nudged Sakura towards the entrance. Suddenly, it registered. "Oh… _OH!_ That's me! I'm the Princess!" Without further ado, she rushed past the maid, leaving Kakashi in the dark.

He shrugged at the girl in her black uniform. "I'm sure we'd be the same." Giggling nervously, the maid nodded, scuttling away as Kakashi shut the door behind him. Running a hand through his hair, Kakashi began his trek down the steps with a sigh. He realized then that it had gone eerily quiet, except for the deep voice of somebody announcing something and then-

He almost lost his footing at the loud trumpets, but thankfully he'd arrived at the scene before he could cause any damage. Taking a comfortable position against the wall, Kakashi watched as the King and his wife strolled in, arms linked and waving with their free hand. His hair was shockingly white, equally as vibrant as the Queen's fuchsia locks. The King couldn't have been much taller than Kakashi, but his demeanor and girth made him seem thus. His authority carried over into his posture and very being.

"His hands are _huge!_" Naruto prated as the royals continued their walk to their thrones. Turning at their respective seats, they greeted the attendees, who were beginning to crowd back into the aisle.

"As you all may have heard, we have recently been blessed with the return of our true Princess-"

All eyes turned to the suddenly small girl standing in the center of the crowd. Sakura shrank into herself, smiling shakily. This endured for a disproportionate amount of time before Kakashi realized something was wrong. Sasuke met his eyes.

"What's taking so long?" Naruto whispered (so loudly that it hardly counted as a whisper) and Sasuke smacked the back of the blonde's head.

The Queen was whispering furiously to a maid at her side, gesturing frantically but with minimal movement at the entrance she had just come from. After the maid replied, she turned to her husband, cupping a hand to his ear. Every so often he would nod his head, and just as Sakura looked like she was going to melt at all the gawking and pointing, he cleared his throat.

"There seems to have been an error, but that's neither here nor there." Two maids had appeared by Sakura's side, but the audience was too enraptured by the King's speech to notice. They led her out to the fringe of the crowd before taking her through an entrance. Kakashi pursued. "As I was saying, The Hidden Village of Leaves has graciously sent our Princess back to us-" His hand stretched to the aisle before him, and the crowd parted like the Red Sea, many party-goers lifting themselves to their toes or bending forward to get a good look. Sakura stepped out of the cove, bright red. The hushed voices began again.

"Her _hair_!"

"Look at those _eyes_."

"Royalty for _sure_."

The medic-turned-princess stood rooted to the floor, incapable of taking a step forward. She jumped when she felt a hand slide onto hers; when she looked up, Kakashi was standing beside her, looking ahead nonchalantly. He patted her hand before gently pushing the small of her back forward. "Don't worry," he assured under his breath. "I've got you."

Gratitude bloomed in her chest, and Sakura found the courage to take a step, then another, folding her hands into her sleeves to hide her panicked wrist-wringing. The throng of villagers broke into loud cheers, and it occurred to Sakura that she was becoming unbearably warm, even seeming to break into a very light sweat. Her only comfort was the pressure on her back propelling her forward. By the time she reached the foot of the King and Queen, she was cursing vehemently in her head and swearing the short walk had been worse than any mission she'd ever been on.

Kakashi stepped back, vanishing into the bodies.

"Uh- hello," Sakura said, waving uncomfortably. Everybody quieted down immediately. Bowing, Sakura gave the common greeting. "Please take care of me."

It was like a wave: row after row of the congregation bent to a knee, head downward. Someone could have fried an egg against the kunoichi's skin. She spotted Kakashi, who was standing in the center of the crowd, looking more surprised than Sakura had ever seen him. When green met grey, Sakura shook her head, pleading for him not to imitate the crowd. Shrugging apologetically, Kakashi disobeyed.

Bowing again, Sakura stated uncertainly, "thank you for your kindness," before the King beckoned for her to stand between him and his wife. It was there, between both her true parents, that the resemblance came through, striking and almost frightening. Her eyes were the perfect mix of theirs, the in-between hue of her mother's deep blues and her father's molten ambers that were a borderline gold. Not to mention her hair- white and fuschia? Somebody would have to be an idiot not to see that. It was no wonder Sakura barely took after any of her Konoha parents. She'd mentioned on the past mission that her mother was a blonde and her father was red-headed, which had seemed plausible enough, but now seeing the _true _genetic tree… there was really no other possible options. Even her _eyelashes _took after the King's.

Naruto was wildly gesturing to the family, trying to catch Kakashi's eye (who'd definitely already noticed and was just choosing to ignore his clueless ex-student) while simultaneously blubbering to Sasuke. Sakura seemed to be imitating a stone (and very well, too) as the King announced the banquet. Hordes of maids and servants entered the room carrying large platters, placing them on the tables at the edges of the large room. Nobody hesitated to take a seat, and when the dishes were revealed with large flourishes, the desire to dig in was palpable.

Sakura was forced into a seat at the head of the table, away from her familiars. Thankfully, the couple to her side was too preoccupied quibbling to pay much attention to her. On her other side, however, was a man who hardly looked any older than her—maybe a year or two—with bright, royal blue hair and intelligent indigo eyes. Overall, Sakura deemed him very attractive, and was pleasantly surprised when he addressed her.

"What a turn of luck," he smiled. "Tell me what it feels like to suddenly be told your the princess of one of the most successful hidden villages."

Laughing shortly, she busied herself with her food. "I'm not sure it's _really _hit me. I'd be panicking a lot more than I have been." Then, she furrowed her brow, as if there was something wrong with the meal on her dish. "But to tell the truth, I know nothing about this place."

"I'm not surprised," he humored, leaning into her. "Let's make a deal." Sakura raised an eyebrow. "If you'll dance with me later, I'll give you a thorough account of how this place works."

"Dance?" The medic looked around, but everybody was busy socializing over food. If the boy she was conversing with didn't look so earnest, she'd swear he was pulling her leg. She was dressed in a kimono, for Hokage's sake. She couldn't even bend at the waist, how was she supposed to _dance_?

Nodding his head and patting her hand gently, her new friend gazed at her sympathetically. "It's custom. Chiharu-heika never fails to include a dance at her gatherings."

"These are a regular thing?"

"Almost monthly."

"Shoot me."

He was smiling kindly, eyes twinkling. "Don't worry, it's a simple Bon Odori. I'm sure you'll catch on quickly."

"Bon Odori?" As a child, she'd performed Bon Odori dances with her class in regular school (before entering the Shinobi Academy). They'd been taught that the Bon Odori was area-sensitive, so water-based countries generally had fishing and ocean moves incorporated, whereas rock or sound would have mining or instrument-playing moves, respectively. Konoha's Bon Odori mimicked the slyness of shinobi. She'd never really told anybody, but it was a small factor for why she'd chosen to enroll in the Shinobi Academy. The moves had been so fluent, and for years after, she had daydreamed about moving from tree to tree in silence and shooting shurikens that whizzed in quiet, straight lines.

Needless to say, she was immediately disillusioned upon meeting Naruto.

"I'm sure you know what Bon Odori is?"

"Oh, yes, I just don't know how Hanagakure would manage their Bon Odori. If your main feature is geisha, what role do your men play in the dance?"

"Actually, it's for that reason that our dance is a partner dance. Most of our men are businessmen in the geisha business. They interact frequently with the girls in order to be familiar with them. After all, you have to understand the product you're selling," his last comment was dry, and his face displayed his distaste.

"Sounds like a bore," Sakura let slip, and then blushed profusely at her impertinence. "I'm sorry- I do that sometimes- speak without thinking- oh gosh, I'm so rude-"

He was beaming at her, and the kunoichi was caught off guard. Her heart squeezed for half a second at the handsome face. "No, it's quite refreshing really, and I know what you mean. Fortunately, the creator of the dance must have realized what you were thinking, because he turned it into a romance. It's not hard to fall in love with a geisha, you know."

Her curiosity piqued. "Oh? Does it happen often?"

"Oh, yes. Those stories always end in heartbreaking tragedy."

"Geisha can't marry," Sakura nodded in understanding. "Why don't they choose to marry and retire?"

"And take away the very thing they lived for?"

And then it clicked. After all, that was why few shinobi married civilians. Marrying a civilian meant resigning yourself to a more secure, stable lifestyle; those who did marry non-shinobi rarely marked themselves above chuunin-level in the 5 year census. The action and adventure of being a ninja was lost—really, marrying a civilian defeated the whole purpose of what it meant to be a shinobi.

The thought of marrying an average Joe blew her mind. To give up something that she had trained for practically her entire life was implausible. But to share all this with her newfound friend was too much, so she sufficed with a simple, "ah."

"It looks like the dance is about to begin." Sure enough, a humble looking orchestra was beginning to set up at the foot of the king and queen. "I'd love to teach you…" His voice trailed off as he looked slightly horrified. "I'm sorry. I just realized that I never asked your name once this entire time and I'm still asking for your hand in a dance."

Chuckling, she lifted herself from her seat as gracefully as possible and took his proffered hand. "It's fine. I'm Sakura Haruno."

"Haruto Kawaguchi, pleased to make your acquaintance." He winked as he bowed, and she couldn't fight the laugh rising out of her. He was proving himself to be good company, and for that she was forever grateful.

* * *

By the time it was over, she was winded. Granted, that was a vast improvement from the various people in the room who were fanning their flushed faces and trying to look as if the hours of dancing hadn't affected them at all, but she was a ninja, so to be out of breath from relatively simple dancing was a feat.

Naruto was currently helping a girl he'd just danced with (strangely enough, the jinchuuriki had queued up a long line of girls for the evening. Sakura figured it had something to do with his eyes) into a seat and was chatting amicably with her, proving that despite his regularly childish antiques, he really had matured. Sasuke was being his usual, unflappable self against the wall, and Kakashi—

Kakashi was sitting at one of the tables conversing with a woman who's hip-length hair was a shiny, auburn-bordering-on-red colour. Contrary to her ex-sensei's usually tacit demeanor, he seemed… _comfortable— a_s if he already knew her.

It struck Sakura then that perhaps this wasn't the first time Kakashi had ever been here. That maybe he had friends here; after all, he had been active in ANBU at one point. In her zoned out state, she hadn't noticed that Kakashi had caught her staring, but when he stood up, she blinked to consciousness. She watched as the female's mouth moved and Kakashi smiled, and then, the woman placed her hand over the one Kakashi had left splayed on the table. The pinkette didn't miss the warmth in stranger's hazel orbs or the way her gaze and fingers lingered.

Suddenly, Sakura wasn't so sure she _knew _Kakashi. Sure, she'd fought alongside him and recognized his habits and quirks—and Hokage knows just how much she knew his history—but she had no idea what drove him, what he strived for, or _why_ he strived for those things. She'd never put much thought into the small, cryptic hints her ex-sensei might have given. And so now, faced with this foreign (and possibly flirtatious, as the signs seemed to show) male individual, she was left feeling unnerved.

_Pull yourself together, Haruno! It's not like all he does is read porn, ruin lives, and fight hard. _Except in her world, that was all she'd known him for. So this really was earth-shattering.

"I'm guessing the festivities are over now?"

Sakura said nothing. Instead, she stared speechlessly up at Kakashi, second-guessing all she'd ever known about him. _Has he always been so tall_? She felt like Thumbelina in the midst of a giant, caught with her nose in something that she shouldn't have been snooping in.

"Sakura?" Concern marked his brow.

Her eyes searched his barely revealed face, looking for something that she hoped she would recognize. It all seemed so dramatic, standing here having a Kakashi-centered crisis because of a simple woman, but she needed to make sure that she knew who this was. Up until now, she'd never, in any way, associated Kakashi with the act of beguiling females as a recreation (because she knew he'd done it on missions. But that was different! Really!…). The silver hair was there. The dark grey eye. The mask. The hitae-ate. But… but… something was off…

Suddenly, his concern morphed into cheer. "Ah, stunned by my presence, is it?"

Nevermind. This was definitely Kakashi. Abashed, Sakura rouged, rolling her eyes to mask her bewilderment and dragging Kakashi away by the collar to join the boys, waving goodbye to Haruto.

But as Sakura stood amongst her familiar trio, she couldn't deny the little fire that had sparked to life upon examining her subordinate. The sensation was a familiar one from ages ago, one that discomfited her. She had thought she'd thrown out the firewood, but instead, it seemed as if all she'd done was pour it out with water, and now that the tinder was dry, it was threatening to burst back into flames.

No. This was the man she'd invested a fair bit of herself into, and now she was missing that part of herself, probably for forever. She'd learned the hard way to be careful who she gave her heart to. With those thoughts, Sakura successfully stomped out the flickering firelight in her spirit.

A rude hand waved vigorously in front of her face. "Sakura-chan? You're acting all spacey."

"I'm fine, thanks Naruto." She comforted with a smile, ignorant of Kakashi's observant eye.

* * *

Sakura laid in bed with the covers drawn to her chin, eyes wide open. Outside the adjoining balcony, the occasional firework would go off, signifying that even the families who hadn't attended (which was quite a few, she learned. The castle couldn't fit that many people, obviously) were celebrating her "return."

Each crack of pyrotechnic fire was a sobering reminder of where Sakura _really _considered home. And the more she thought of Konoha, the less tired she felt. In Konoha, she had been popular, but not _unanimously _so. She'd been loved and favored by friends and family, but not an entire village. Her heart felt sick. She needed to breathe. Pulling the covers off, she tiptoed into the balcony, surprisingly unperturbed when her green eyes found Kakashi already situated on the ledge, reading his prized novel. Leaning her elbows onto the railing, she breathed out quietly.

"Why would a shinobi ever choose to marry?" Sakura asked absentmindedly, sneaking a peek at her comrade with her chin in the palms of her hand.

Lifting his eyebrows slightly, Kakashi turned his attention away from his novel. "Why do you ask?"

"I was just thinking about geisha. We're kind of similar. Who would give up their lifestyle for love?"

"Are you sure you aren't speaking out of a broken heart?" His tease about a certain Uchiha earned him a nasty glare and he sobered up, though amusement was still evident in his eye. Without really answering her questions, he replied easily, "I think it's romantic."

_That _earned him a look that screamed "_you're a complete lunatic_" before Sakura padded back to her bedroom.

* * *

She'd spent much of her night mulling over what Kakashi had said. _Romantic_? She'd never thought him to be the type. Maybe it was all the porn he read—she'd always assumed that his books were plotless libido-pleasers, but she could be wrong. The medic fell asleep wondering what Kakashi might have been like as a teenager if he was into things like _romance_.

When daybreak arrived, she was ushered out of bed half-awake by various maids. In record time she was dressed, and as she was urged out of the room, she caught a glance of Kakashi's empty room. He must have woken up earlier on his own.

As she was led through the castle, she passed by many doors and windows, all open and currently being cleaned. Two floors below her own room, however, was an ornate door that was closed. The maids with her shied around it, and it occurred to her that the room was _deliberately _being avoided. Halfway across the floor was a balcony. The doors, made entirely of glass, were pulled back and being washed by two men, offering a full view of the garden that put her own bedroom's lookout to shame. For what seemed like miles, all Sakura could see was verdurous brush and vibrant flora; amidst the hedges, the dirt road converged to an unbelievably large, crystal fountain, lined with stone benches. A familiar shock of blue amidst all the grey caught her eye, but she was swept away by an impatient maid before she could further observe her findings.

The banquet hall, where breakfast was held, looked unbearably large with only the King, Queen, and her teammates. The bounty of food also looked misplaced, and the entire effect left Sakura missing her humble apartment and previous life. After seating herself in a plush seat across from Naruto, she picked idly at her food.

"Sakura… chan?" Her head snapped up at the familiar suffix spoken by an unfamiliar person. Bright, golden-amber eyes that Tsunade's orbs would've held a candle to pierced into her, and she sat ramrod straight upon being addressed by the king.

"Yes, sir?"

Something akin to remorse flickered in his intense gaze. Clearing his throat, he said quietly, "I'm happy to see you again." His voice was naturally deep and gruff, enhancing his overall appearance as somebody very manly and tough. So to hear his voice catch was unsettling.

Sakura nodded uncomfortably, starting to sweat into her seat. Just to have something to do (and to avoid replying), she shoveled some porridge into her mouth, chewing mechanically. Conflicting emotions of varying degrees coursed through her body as she fought to avoid confronting the implications of what the king had said. When the pinkeye could no longer handle her mindless masticating, she pushed herself away from the table. "Well," she began, her voice unnaturally high. "I think I'm about done here. If I could be excused, sir."

Her waist began to curve into a bow automatically, but the process stuttered to a stop when the king protested fervidly. "I understand the remarkable nature of what is happening and what it means for our relationship," hesitation stepped into his voice, and he traded his usual authoritative timbre for a softer, more tentative approach. It was unnerving to see a king uncertain. "But I still would very much prefer that we address each other familiarly. There is no need to bow or address me as royalty. You are, after all—" he cleared his throat lightly, "—my daughter.

What began as trepidation flourished into utter horror coursing through her veins. Her face was still turned towards the floor, and Sakura could hear the rush of blood in her ears. When she pulled herself up straight, it took an eternity for her to meet the king's, and then the queen's, eyes. The colour of her face was giving her red outfit a run for its money. "I'm sorry," she said so faintly that everybody had to hold their breath to hear. But, even more quietly, she added, "but I can't."

And then she vanished, leaving a wake of petals in her stead.

* * *

The hall was deadly quiet; even the air was still and the wind from the open window had stopped blowing. Her teammates waited with bated breath for the king's outrage.

Naruto's eyes were wide, and he was trading what seemed to be telepathic waves with Kakashi, whose tense body betrayed his lackadaisical eye. Even Sasuke had abandoned the hot breakfast he had been elegantly nursing in favor of pointedly staring at nothing in particular in order to not make awkward eye contact with anybody surrounding him.

"There, there," a svelte voice cooed. The queen was patting her husband's thick arm with her tiny hand. "You must understand how she's feeling."

With a heaving sigh, he nodded his head as if he were carrying the entire kingdom on his crown. "Perhaps I was too early." His wife said nothing, just continued to pat him in consolation. "Well, I've had a long trip and last night wasn't quite enough rest for me. I'll be turning in for the day." Everybody nodded; everybody knew his trip wasn't what was weighing him down.

Chiharu never lost her composure through the strife. Smoothing a wrinkle on her kimono, she smiled at the boys. "There's nothing scheduled for the day, so you're all free to do what you like. It's safe for Sakura to come down to eat anytime. Please tell one of the servants if you won't be here for lunch!" Then she left for her room as well.

Sasuke looked from Kakashi to Naruto. Naruto stared hard at Kakashi, clasped hands growing tighter and whiter. "Somebody needs to talk to her," the blonde finally broke. Releasing his hands, he wiped his palms on his pants before standing up. Kakashi was up in a second, pushing Naruto back down with a hand to his shoulder.

"It's fine, I'll do it."

The grim look that replaced Naruto's shocked one was too wise and knowing for someone who was usually so oblivious. "Will you, really?" He wasn't questioning his captain's lazy approach to things—Kakashi had the uncanny feeling that Naruto knew more than he let on.

In return, he smiled his habitual smile. "Really."

Naruto's face morphed from grim to uncertain, and he shrugged. "Alright then. I guess we'll—" his eyes shifted to Sasuke, "—just take a look around."

With a nod, Kakashi disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

* * *

He found her staring off the balcony ledge with her chin in the palm of her hands. Not crying, only staring wistfully in the direction of Konoha. Without warning, she turned to face him, elbows on the railing. "That was bad. I know."

Shaking his head, he leaned against the wall. "It's understandable."

Biting her lower lip, she looked at the ground. "Thank you." When she chanced a glance at him, he was smiling at her. She started when he stepped up to her, but relaxed when he tousled her hair. His hand fell away, but not before lingering a second too long and not without slipping a few strands through his thumb and pointer finger. Sakura failed to take notice, and he stepped back to his original position, wondering what demon had just overtaken him.

"I just don't understand what's happening." Her eyebrows furrowed. "Say that I _am _the real princess. I have the hair colour, the eye colour… but what about my parents in Konoha?" The volume of her voice dropped to a whisper. "You can't tell me they… died in _vain_?" This thought seemed to disturb her greatly. "And… and why would I have ended up in Konoha anyways?" The way she asked suggested she was afraid to find out the answer. "W-why are you looking at me like that?"

His lone eye was pulled down at the corner, and he looked sorry for her. "You should ask your parents yourself, Sakura."

Her face flickered through a multitude of expressions, as if she were fighting an internal battle, before it hardened unexpectedly. "You know."

Without saying a word, Kakashi pulled out his favorite text, hunching over the little yellow book.

"Kakashi, tell me. Tell me what happened."

"It's not my place."

"Kakashi…"

"Sakura." Snapping his book shut, he crossed his arms. He took on his familiar teacher-tone. "Don't be so rash. If I tell you, you'll draw your own conclusions to suit your feelings without ever hearing your parents' side of the story."

Upon being reprimanded, she looked withdrawn and distraught. Kakashi could see clearly she was fighting with herself. The overwrought look was reminiscent of when he'd met her when she was much, _much_ younger. Yes, he knew exactly what had happened to Sakura, he'd even overseen the "shipment." The mission had taken two years before Hanagakure could come to an agreement, heartbreakingly handing over their only biological princess to ensure the safety and necessary secrecy of their village.

They hadn't counted on ever having her back, just like _he_ hadn't counted on his life becoming so intertwined with hers. But now here they were. And Kakashi was more than a little afraid of how everything would turn out.

Shaking the thought out of his head, Kakashi turned to leave. "Naruto and Sasuke are checking out the village. They should be back by dinner. I'd suggest you have your thoughts sorted out by then."

Dinner came unexpectedly quick. Naruto burst into the hall short of breath and doubled over due to laughter, one of his lanky arms swung around Sasuke's shoulders. Kakashi tailed behind, nose in his ever predictable book. When he politely pocketed his book, he found Sakura watching him closely, only to shy away when he raised a questioning eyebrow.

Pots of steaming broth were set before them, and nobody hesitated to dig into the portions they were served. Sakura, however, picked at each grain of rice, shuffling her chopsticks around the vegetables. Something was obviously on the medic's mind, stopping her from speaking much. Sasuke never spoke anyways, and he had always been taciturn. Ultimately, the room was quiet, save for Naruto's loud chewing.

"I know you've all only just arrived," Kakashi had a suspicion "you all" was directed mostly towards a certain kunoichi-turned-princess, "but I figure it's never too late to start taking classes."

"Classes?" Sasuke queried, face remaining stolid but eyes gleaming with piqued interest.

"Ah, well, for you three they won't be obligatory classes," the king cleared his throat awkwardly. "For Sakura, however," the girl addressed wilted, "I can't say the same. It's mandatory that the princess of her country know the customs. That being said, you will begin your training as a maiko tomorrow at noon."

A deceptively ambiguous emotion had slipped onto Sakura's face—an expression Kakashi recognized as one that she used when guarding information from enemies. It was a tell in itself, but to anybody who didn't know her, she just looked extremely passive and unaffected. "And how will this training go about?" The question was as disingenuous as the facade she was wearing.

"Our village has perfected the art of training to create the best geisha. It should only take you 3 years, what with your _prior_ training…" The queen trailed off, a distant and marginally worried look in her eyes. "Granted, you're starting at an abnormal age. Most of our village girls begin training anywhere between three to five years of age. And when you are finished, there will be a large presentation, where many higher-authorities of various villages join to bid. Of course, you won't be included in that, only the presentation."

The 19-year old didn't even bother to appear appalled at the mention of "3 years." From what Kakashi had ascertained, Sakura didn't seem to think she would be here any longer than a few months— as if she could shake these people off and just return to Konoha. But no; he, Naruto, and Sasuke, would be returning home as a three-man team. His brow crinkled at the unfamiliar feeling in his chest. He must have eaten too fast.

Instead, she asked a purposely loaded question. "And if I fail?"

Her parents exchanged queer looks before Chiharu managed a crooked smile at her daughter. "That's never happened."

Wisely, Sakura did not respond. Flicking a few more grains of rice across her bowl, she stood up. "I'd like to be excused now. Thank you for the meal, good night." More worried glances exchanged between the present royalty as she traipsed out of the room. The rest of dinner was a quiet, uncomfortable affair.

When Naruto, Sasuke, and Kakashi left, Naruto clapped a hand to his ex-mentor's back and eyed him apologetically. "I'd take your place in a heartbeat, Sensei, but I've recently been told I'm not allowed in her living quarters if I'm not her escort."

"I guess it's karma for my past actions with her," Kakashi joked lightly, poking fun at how he'd teased her and left her out (but only a little!… right?) when she was under his tutelage. But the uneasy way Naruto eyes darted to Sasuke's told him that the two were sharing more than laughs behind their closed door. There were so many unspoken words being traded today, and it left him feeling rather aggravated. "It's fine, don't worry. She's being surprisingly level-headed about everything." Sasuke quirked a smile and Naruto chuckled. They all knew how temperamental their female teammate could be when put in a situation she hated. It was sad, though, to know that somehow, some way, Sakura had matured. The trio parted ways, Naruto pumping his fist and "encouraging" his ex-sensei as he walked away.

He wasn't surprised to see her peering thoughtfully over the handrail; this seemed to be their unspoken meeting place. Upon closer inspection, her eyes were glassy, but not red, so any threatening tears hadn't yet spilled. Immediate relief flooded through him—crying females just weren't his thing, and crying _Sakura _was worse. He'd dealt with that far too many times already. One more time and he'd probably fulfill his lifetime quota of "snotty, teary woman."

"Sleep with me tonight?" Her request jerked him out of his nostalgia, and he looked at her, alarmed. "I don't mean it like _that_," the green-eyed medic groused. "I just meant… sit on the edge of the bed or something. I don't know. You know? You can read if you want. You don't have to say anything." Her irritated facade was slowly slipping into unease and uncertainty as she spoke. "Please?" She finished under her breath, looking everywhere but at him. A squeak left her mouth when she felt an unexpected hand on her hand, but it was only Kakashi, guiding her into her room.

She tossed and turned to sleep, and he ignored her frustrated sighs, sitting with his back against one of the posts of the bed and meditating. When he woke with a start, he didn't realize he'd been sleeping, and he had no idea how long he'd been out. But his neck had a crick in it and his back seemed to groan with relief when he stretched out. Standing up to check how Sakura was, he was greeted with an empty bed. The nin sighed. _I hope this doesn't become a regular thing_.

It didn't take long for him to track her down. She hadn't bothered to mask her chakra signature at all, and the other two signatures popping up were lying still as stones (Naruto and Sasuke, of course). When he found her, she was leaning against an ostentatious looking double-door with her ear pressed to the oak. The sight almost fought a laugh out of him; she was squinting with intense concentration, as if narrowing her eyes would somehow make her ears hear better.

"Sakura?" Kakashi whispered, leaning his side against the wall behind her. Caught red-handed, the girl in question shot at least 3 feet into the air. "You seem to have lost all your skills as a shin obi while you were here." He couldn't stop the smirk.

Grumbling, she shot him a glare that would have had him foaming at the mouth and writhing on the floor if looks could kill. "Go back to where you came from, jerk."

Chortling, he ruffled her hair before dropping his hands to her shoulders and steering her back to their room. As he walked, he leaned his mouth to her ear, breathing, "hear anything interesting?" The way she swallowed and the goosebumps that broke across her flesh were not lost on him. He couldn't help the pleased smile, but he made sure it disappeared when she looked back at him uncertainly.

"Giggling. Lots of giggling. I'm not sure what to make of it." Sakura pursed her lips. "It wasn't Chiharu. And whoever it was, she sounded _tired_. Dunno why the hell she's up if she's so exhausted. I might have heard a guy, too."

Kakashi could actually guess who it was in that room, but _he _wasn't about to be the one to tell Sakura that. She'd have to ask her parents that, too. Which reminded him. "So, have you thought about asking your parents?"

Conflict suddenly coloured every movement of her face. "Please don't call them that," she began softly. "It… it scares me." Something about the way she couldn't meet his eyes, the defeated slump in her shoulders, had him tugging her chin up with a finger.

"Family is more than whose blood you have running through your veins, Sakura."

Her eyes widened, and he dropped his hand before the light in her eyes compelled him to do something extremely stupid, like grab her face with both hands and press his lips to hers. She beat him to it, however, when she managed a smile and a peck to his cheek before turning to her room, leaving him to ponder the recent turn of events.

The sleep that had come so easily to him only 30 minutes previous evaded him. Staring at the ceiling, he wearily assessed the state of his heart. If this was what a platonic kiss on the cheek did to him, Kakashi didn't think anything more would be healthy for his sanity.

* * *

_Today's the day!_ Sakura thought as she woke up brightly, reaching her arms above her, listening and feeling for the tell-tale popping. She grinned. She was going to be ok. Things would end up fine. Today she would ask her questions, figure out what loose ends she had to tie up, and then devote her next few days or weeks tying up those loose ends. Soon, she'd be arranging for her arrival in Konoha. It couldn't be that hard. There was nothing keeping her here. She was a medic, for Sannin's sake! She'd heal the sick, stand-in princess if she had to!

She really couldn't feel more grateful to Kakashi. His short little pep-talk (well, pep-sentence, more like) had worked magic on her last night, and she'd fallen to sleep with the realization who her _true _family was. She couldn't leave Konoha—that was impossible. There was nothing forcing her to stay here and attend to it; everything really was as simple as healing the ex-princess and leaving.

She would be fine. Everything would be ok. Putting on the kimono she'd had made on the day of the celebration (she was in a good mood, might as well look it), she practically skipped to the banquet hall, looking like a ball of sunshine. If it was possible, her soaring mood lifted higher at the sight of bright, blue hair in the seat next to where she usually sat.

Enthusiastically, she cried out, "Haruto-kun?"

"Sakura-chan!" In her blithe state of being, she missed the forced note of enthusiasm in his voice.

"Why are you here?" Again, she was completely oblivious to the tense muscle in Haruto's jaw.

Chiharu glanced curiously from one to the other. "You didn't know, Sakura? He's your fiancee!"

* * *

a/n: I AM SO SO SO SO SS OS OSORRY THAT THIS TOOK SO LONNG GAAAHHHHHHHH I know I have no excuses but I'm just gonna rant a bit about it because I mean iono I just want to. But basically I don't write much on weekdays because I have schoolwork and I have my school things to do, so I devote most of writing to weekends, but I blank out frequently on how to keep the plot moving forward while not sacrificing character development and relationship development and all that jazz so I'll just tap my fingers against my keyboard on those awful weekend nights and be like "SCREW IT I CAN'T DO THIS GOING TO SLEEP AIGHT BYE" So a lot of my writing comes together piece by piece. Thank you so much for the grace you guys show me, seriously.

I realized that I spend an appalling amount of time on Wikipedia because of writing. But it's ok, because I actually love wikipedia. I have a strange addiction to it. I could spend hours on it reading things about avocado seeds to quantum mechanics.

I bring it up because the Bon Odori is a real japanese folkdance, but it's meant to be done during the Obon festival. Well, I took creative license and ditched that idea. Is that allowed? Well. I'm saying it is. HEHEHEHEHE

Also, I'm obsessed with Tangled, and for some odd reason as I was writing this, I kept thinking of Rapunzel's father as Sakura's biological father, LOL.

And as an ending note… is it weird to see Kakashi as the one with the unrequited feelings? I think I'm tired of reading fics where Sakura is "lost in love." I know it seems more likely because she would know less about the world cause she's younger, but I can totally logic out why you could reverse the situation. And the thing is, I really don't think Kakashi would be stupid about his feelings.

Alright. I'm done. Again, thank you all so much for being so gracious and kind, and thank you for the support! I love your reviews, they make me so happy to know that people enjoy these tics as much as I enjoy writing them! (It can be a grueling process, but I love being able to create. So it's awesome to know that people love what's being created. THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!)


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